Unexpected Development
by Tigeroo
Summary: A conference leads to unexpected insights about themselves and each other. Sara/Cath femslash
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

I recently found a CSI challenge on the internet that inspired me to start writing again.

Basically it's just some Cath/Sara (yeah, femslash) fluff, that I hope you might enjoy. I cannot really promise regular updates, but I will do my very best.

Unfortunately, English still has not become my first language, so please accept my apologies for all mistakes

* * *

**Unexpected Development**

"No way Gil, please tell me that you are fucking joking!" Gilbert Grissom took off his glasses and looked tiredly at the furious blonde that was pacing in front of his desk.

"I'm really sorry Catherine, there is absolutely nothing I can do. Ecklie wants two representatives of the LVPD to go to that conference, and since you are the blood splatter expert, it's an obvious choice."

"That is complete bullshit! Ecklie just wants the lab to appear modern and up to date. We ARE up to date, this is just some stupid publicity stunt, to keep the Sheriff and the mayor happy. And besides, everyone of us deals with blood, so why can't you send someone else? I promised Lindsey to come to her opening night on Saturday. She's been talking about it non-stop for the past few weeks. Any idea how to explain to my teenage daughter that her mother has to break another promise?", Cath asked him, bristling with anger.

Her supervisor just shook his head. "Not possible Cath, Nick and Warrick are both due in court this week and Greg lacks experience. Ecklie says dayshift is swamped, so it has to be you. I'm deeply sorry about Lindsey, especially because this is so last minute, but my hands are tied."

Catherine stopped her pacing and sat down with a loud sigh. "But what about Sara, she loves to learn new stuff and I can't remember her mentioning any trials this week, so why not send her?"

Grissom gave his friend a rather strange look. "Yes, I know, that is exactly the reason why she will accompany you. I told you Ecklie wants two of us to go... And besides, the department is on a tight budget, so you need another female to share the room with."

The look Catherine threw her boss was murderous. "Let me get this straight: without any heads-up you want me to go to a conference that starts in three days, meaning, I'll miss my daughter's big evening and have basically no time to prepare myself? Furthermore you want Sara to come with me and the lab can't fucking afford to pay for two separate rooms? And to top it all off, this conference is taking place in some Hicksville in Idaho? Jeez, whatever happened to LA, New York , or Miami?"

"Could someone please explain to me why I am going to Idaho?"

Catherine and Gil turned around. Leaning against the door frame stood Sara Sidle, arms folded and a clearly unhappy look on her face. Grissom sighed. His day was getting worse by the minute.

* * *

That's it, please let me know what you think of the setup. The next two chapters are already written, so they will be up shortly.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

There you go, second chapter coming right up. I forgot to mention that I basically ignore what happend the last two seasons or so, neither the miniature killings nor GSR do exist in my universe, and Sara is still very much a CSI. And now, enjoy!

* * *

When Catherine and Sara finally left their supervisor's office thirty minutes and one heated discussion later, they left a very exhausted and guilty Grissom behind and headed for the locker-room. They didn't talk while changing, their silence only interrupted by the unnecessarily loud rummaging in their lockers and banging of doors. Finally Sara dropped down on the bench and decided to break the silence.

"I'm sorry that you'll miss Lindsey's play", she told Catherine, the anger that had been in her voice before not so apparent anymore.

Catherine gave her a surprised look. "Thank you. I know it's not Grissom's fault, but I just hate to disappoint Linds, you know?" She too, had calmed down a little, her anger replaced by resignation.

Sara nodded.

"So what about you?", Catherine inquired, looking curiously at the brunette. "I thought you usually like this kind of thing, so why were you so upset about going? It's not just because it's gonna be in the middle of nowhere, is it?"

Sara snorted. "Nah, I don't mind going to Idaho that much, but I had some plans for this week-end. Nothing that can't be postponed, but still..."

Catherine was intrigued. Apparently the younger woman had finally taken everybody's advice and got herself a private life. Even though most of the time they got on quite well and also shared the occasional after-shift breakfast, Catherine didn't really know much about what Sara did in her spare time. So she let her curiosity win and asked "What kind of plans? Going out? Meeting friends? Or even a date?" She gave her colleague a lopsided smile.

Sara looked a bit intimidated for a second before relaxing. "Basically all of the above. I wanted to go out with a couple of friends, and they wanted to introduce me to one of their newly single friends. Thinking about it, maybe I should be glad that we're going to that conference, that last blind date they set me up with was a disaster."

They shared a smile before Cath finally closed her locker. "All set. You ready to head home?"

"Jesus, more than ready, I am already falling asleep. And if I don't want to go naked to that conference, I should probably do some laundry." Laughing at her last statement, Sara headed out of the locker-room, leaving a flustered Catherine behind whose brain seemed to be stuck on what she just heard. _"Not that I would complain"_, she thought before pulling herself together and following her younger counterpart.

* * *

Reviews anyone? I would really appreciate all your comments...

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

And voilà chapter number 3, hope you like it.

* * *

On the way home Catherine was still in shock over the images and feelings Sara's flippant comment had conjured up in her. Where the hell had that come from? Of course she had seen and imagined quite a lot of people naked before. Of both sexes. After all she had been a dancer and also had had her share of lovers, most of them male, but occasionally, it was another woman's touch she craved. _"At least one thing Eddie and I shared"_, she thought laconically. So it was not the idea of seeing another woman naked that shocked her, but _"Sara Sidle? Jeez Willows, you really need to get laid if you start thinking about your co-workers like that... Especially the ones you don't stand a single chance with... Whoa, what the f...? It's not likeI want a chance with her."_ The blonde shook her head and tried to concentrate on the road. Her mother had always told her that talking to herself was an early sign of insanity, and for once she actually agreed. Apparently the lack of a fulfilling sex-life was finally taking its toll, she thought sarcastically, _"after all, Sara is just sooo not my type"_.

About five seconds later, she slammed the brakes, when a sudden and very unwelcome realisation suddenly hit her like a lightning bolt and nearly made her miss the red light. She ignored the honking of the car behind her. "Fuck", she whispered, "Sidle is exactly my type". She groaned. It had never occurred to her before: the first time she had met the brunette CSI she had considered her an intruder. Sara had managed to earn her respect after that and had become a good colleague and yes, even a friend, but Catherine had never even thought about the younger woman in any other way. Now that Pandora's box had finally been opened she suddenly saw where the attraction could lie. In fact, she mused, Sara was the perfect mixture of the only two guys Catherine Willows had ever really been in love with: She was tall, dark, and mysterious, exactly like Eddie had been, the first time she had met him in that club she used to dance in. Also, Catherine's daughter Lindsey was totally smitten with the brunette, always asking her mother how Sara was doing and telling her to say hello. The only other person the younger Willows had had this hero-worship-thing for had been her father. And then there was the fact, that just like her former husband, Sara knew how to push Catherine's buttons, which, from time to time, resulted in one of their huge blow-ups that the rest of the night-shift feared. Thinking about it now, Catherine caught herself imagining how all of that passion could be resolved in a much more pleasant way. But unlike Eddie, Sara was reliable and didn't make promises that she couldn't keep. She would always put the well-being of others ahead of her own, worked hard, and didn't seem like the type that would ever cheat on a partner. In that way, she was much more like the second man, Catherine had in mind, her old friend Gilbert Grissom. Of course, she had never acted on that attraction, but Catherine always admired her old mentor and would never forget what he had done for her. Like him, Sara was incredibly smart, no one else Catherine knew had studied in Harvard. Like him, she was dedicated to her work. A bit of a geek maybe, but with a certain shyness and cuteness that Catherine found adorable. But whereas Gil was often absent-minded and his social skills where sometimes more than a little poor, Sara often felt too strongly for the victims of the crimes she was investigating and usually was the first to notice if one of her co-workers was not feeling well. Top that with that lanky but buff body, the cute gap-toothed grin and the deep and soulful dark chocolate eyes and Sara Sidle seemed like the perfect package.

"Perfect... Just absolutely fricking perfect...", Catherine grumbled while starting to drive again, "this is exactly what I need, three days in Idaho, sharing a room with the woman that I just discovered could be my perfect match but that is probably the one person on the planet that I would never stand a chance with. Welcome to the hell that is my life..."

* * *

Wanna make my day? Then please review.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

First off, thank you guys so much for reviewing, you totally blew me away! I am sorry for the delay, I have been away, but decided to write this chapter and the next one on the train, the old fashioned way, you know with pens and paper, remember that stuff? I hope that the fact, that it is quite a bit longer than the previous three might make up for this. As you might notice as time goes by, I do really like most of the show's characters, apart from Ecklie of course, but even Hodges starts to grow on you after a couple of seasons, like a little annoying brother, you know. So I decided to add quite a bit of Sara-Greg friendship, hope you'll enjoy their interactions.

It might take a bit of time to actually type the next chapter (my handwriting is a pain to decipher), but since it's already been written you'll hopefully won't have to wait very long.

Oh, also, I decided to change the rating to M, which I personally believe is absolute overkill, but better safe than sorry. And now, ENJOY!

* * *

Sara looked at her watch for what seemed to be the twentieth time this morning. It was already 7.30 and Greg still hadn't shown up. Her flight was supposed to leave at 10.30 and as always she wanted to be at the airport quite a bit earlier, just to make sure that nothing unexpected would prevent her from catching the plane.

She went into the kitchen one more time. Yes, the coffee maker, stove, and microwave were still switched off. Her last date had told her that she was neurotic. "_I am most definitely not!_", Sara thought. "_After all, it is perfectly natural that you don't want to come home and find only the ashes of your former flat!_" 7.40 and still no Greg. She sighed. Why had she asked Greg to drive her to the airport? A taxi would have been perfectly fine.

After Grissom had told them that they were to go to that godforsaken conference she had spent most of the day before just catching up on her paperwork and packing her bags. At the end of the shift she had crashed on the breakroom couch. For someone who could easily work a double or triple if necessary, she was always utterly exhausted after a couple of hours sitting in front of her desk. She had been nearly asleep when Greg had found her, offering her a cup of his special blend and a drive home.

"You are in no state to drive", he had said. "And besides, there's no safer place than the LVPD parking lot to keep your car while you're away. I can even drive you to the airport tomorrow, it's my day off."

Too tired to argue and subdued by Greg's magic coffee Sara had agreed. She had thought that she could also ask Catherine to pick her up so that they could drive to the airport together, forgetting that Cath needed to drop off Lindsey at her sister Nancy's and that she would then let her sister drive her to the airport.

7.45! Where was this weasel that called himself a friend? Well, at least it gave her enough time to check the windows again. All closed. She tried to remember where her train of thought had stopped. Oh yeah, right, she had forgotten that Catherine could not pick her up. She had remembered that little fact when Greg and her had been sitting on her couch, eating pizza out of boxes, drinking beer, and watching the discovery channel.

"What about Catherine?", Greg had asked her while gazing at the mating penguins.

"What?", Sara had gasped, nearly spluttering her drink.

"You had this _'I'm thinking about Catherine Willows'-_look on your face", Greg had explained while turning around to face her. "So what did you think about?"

Sara had turned a crimson red. "Nothing", she had murmured. Then, a little belated, she had hit him in the ribs. "And I do not have a Catherine-look!"

Greg had thrown her a look that was both, presumptuous and pitying. "Oh yes honey, you do. In fact, most of the guys at the lab have one, but yours is by far the worst. Ok, apart from Wendy's maybe."

She hadn't bothered to answer, and had just sat there in silence, drinking her beer, and watching the young birds taking their first steps.

She and Greg had been friends since they first met, but sometimes his funny hair, his strange taste in music, and his constant jokes and flirting still made her forget how intelligent and insightful he really was. Yes, she had admitted her past relationships with women during one of the first nights the two of them had gone out. After all, it was nothing she was ashamed of, but she had never mentioned any interest in Catherine. True, they had discussed the hotness factor of Sofia Curtis when the blonde had first become a team member, and Sara had openly admitted, that she wouldn't mind a one-night stand with the former CSI, but somehow Catherine had always been a taboo. Leave it to Greg to add up one and one and come up with, well, two.

Taking her long silence as a sign that he had embarrassed her, Greg had put an arm around Sara's shoulders and had said "Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Only a fool would not have a crush an Cath. Believe me, I would trade you my whole Marilyn Manson collection to be in your place and share a room with her for four days. And besides, don't worry, it's not like the others know, you are kind of discreet, but as you know, nothing can escape the Great Greggo's observation skills."

This had made Sara smile and the rest of the evening they had not mentioned Catherine again, but instead Greg had told her all about that new neighbour he wouldn't mind asking out for a date.

7.48! A loud bang on Sara's door made the brunette jump. She grabbed her suitcase, checked the coffee maker one last time and opened her apartment door to a broadly grinning Greg.

"Good morning sunshine", he greeted her, taking her suitcase and putting a steaming cup of coffee-to-go in her hand instead.

"About damn time", Sara grumbled, locking her door and taking a sip.

"Relax, there's plenty of time. Just stop being so neurotic", Greg answered, unfazed by her attitude.

"I'm NOT neurotic", Sara mumbled, following her younger friend down the stairs.

A 25 minute drive later they arrived at the airport. Before getting out of the car, Greg stopped her and said "Well, aren't you curious why I was late this morning?"

Sara faced him and pretended to be surprised. "What, you mean apart from your general tardiness there is actually a reason why you were late?"

"Funny Sidle... You are really lucky that I like you so much. Now, open the glove compartment, I bought you a present", Greg told her.

Curious Sara did what she was told while Greg went to the trunk to get her suitcase out. Sara stared at the magazine she was now holding in her hand. Then she stepped out of the car and towards a grinning Greg.

"A men's magazine? Is this a joke? You know I'm not a guy, right? And I'm also neither horny, nor a teenager!", she whispered furiously, not wanting to draw attention to what she was saying and holding in her hand. Greg just raised his eyebrows.

"Well ok", she said, "at least I'm not a teenager!"

"That's exactly my point. I know you are not a sex maniac Sara. But honestly, the last guy we set you up with was a disaster. So how long has it been? If I'm not mistaken, Laurie was the last person you slept with, and as much as it pains me to remind you, but that was over a year ago."

Sara tried to interrupt him, but Greg put his finger against her lips. "Now honey, you are going to spend four days sleeping in the same room as Catherine, who is by far the hottest woman in the whole lab. I don't know exactly how long you've had the hots for her, but believe me Sara, if you do not take the edge off, you won't survive this." He stopped and looked at her expectantly. Sara didn't quite know how to answer him. He was wrong. On so many levels. He had to be. In fact, she didn't even know where to start. Oh yeah, that was is.

"First of all, Greg, you know I love you dearly, but my sex life is just none of your business. Second of all, what makes you think I need a fucking magazine, excuse the pun, to do what you imply. And thirdly, when and where do you want me to _'take the edge off'_, as you so delicately put it? Like you said, I'm gonna share a room with Cath."

He just grinned at here. "You're a CSI darling, it's your job to solve problems." With that he headed off towards the terminal building, leaving a steaming Sara behind.

"Arghhh!", she exclaimed, kicking the car's nearest tire. She was very tempted to leave the magazine behind the windshield wipers but she didn't want to scar an innocent child in the parking lot next to Greg's for life. So she tucked the magazine inside her suitcase. There was no way this thing would fit into her handbag and she sure as hell didn't want to greet the object of her affection holding a magazine with scantily dressed women on the cover in her hand.

* * *

Wanna tell me what you think?

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

Here you go, the next chapter is up. Thanks a lot for your support, it really keeps me going. This chapter was a bit painful to write, especially since it's not as fluffy as the last one. I'm now pretty sure where the story is going, and I promise I'll take care of Lindsey. Now I just have to get all of these ideas in my head on paper, which actually might be the more difficult part. But now, enjoy!

* * *

Catherine Willows took a sip of her first coffee of the day and sighed. Ever since Grissom had told her about that dreadful conference on Monday, her life had been disastrous. After her sudden realisation in the car she had been less than thrilled, but that feeling had soon be replaced by sheer agony over the look on her daughter's face when she had told her that she couldn't make it to the play.

Contrary to Lindsey's usual reaction of flaring anger that matched her mother's so perfectly and usually resulted in a shouting match between the two Willows women, Lindsey had been dead silent, her face pale and not betraying any emotion. With a cold voice she had excused herself and had gone to her room, asking to be undisturbed. Catherine hadn't known how to react. She was expecting a huge fight, but this wordless acceptance had chilled her to the bone.

When Lindsey had come down for dinner her eyes had been red from hours of crying. It had broken Catherine's heart to see the pain in her daughter's eyes and to know that she had been the one responsible for putting it there. She had tried to coax a reaction from Lindsey, had tried to hug her, but Lindsey had left, saying that she still needed to finish her homework.

Later, when Catherine had knocked on her girl's door, holding two cups of hot chocolate, the former ultimate peace offer, the door had been locked and the owner of the room had not opened it. Catherine had cursed Ecklie, Gil, even the judges responsible for the dates of Nick's and Warrick's hearings, but to no avail.

On Tuesday she had gone through the motions of packing and finishing up with some stuff at work. Dinner had been a dreadful affair again, any attempt of conversation had been met with her daughter's ice cold silence, until she had finally given up, crying herself to sleep.

That morning they had gone to Nancy's house, who had then driven them to Lindsey's school and the airport. There had been no real need to talk, over the years Nancy had become an expert in deciphering her sister's and niece's moods, so she had simply held her older sister while the latter had been sobbing in the parking lot. Afterwards, she had offered Catherine a wet wipe and some mascara and they had shared a brief and sad laugh about how even the most beautiful women turned blotchy when crying. When Catherine had been halfway presentable again she had hugged her sister, who had promised to take good care of Lindsey and to try and talk to the teenager. Then she had taken her suitcase and had marched towards the terminal, where she had plopped down on a chair in the first café she had seen, where she was now trying to drown her sorrows in coffee.

She nearly jumped when a hand touched her shoulder and an obviously very cheerful Greg shouted "morning Catherine". She turned around, looking first at him and then at the door, where a slightly pissed looking Sara entered, pulling a suitcase, which, as she noticed fleetingly, looked exactly like her own. When Sara saw her blonde colleague she waved and threw Greg one last murderous glance before smiling at Catherine and walking towards them. If either she or Greg noticed the faint red shimmer in Catherine's eyes they didn't show any reaction but simply ordered themselves another round of coffee.

Catherine relaxed during Sara's and Greg's constant bickering and teasing, and even laughed at Greg's description of the neurotic behaviour that Sara apparently displayed from time to time, which resulted in a rather indignant look on Sara's face and more laughter on Greg's and Catherine's part.

When they finally headed towards the check-in counter Catherine thought that maybe escaping Vegas and all her problems for a couple of days wouldn't be so bad after all. But this thought was soon replaced by another when Sara, who was walking in front of her, turned around and threw her one of those patented Sidle smiles and suddenly a whole bunch of butterflies seemed to take up residence in her stomach.

"_Oh shit!_"

* * *

So, what do you guys think?

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

Just a very brief chapter (since I personally find flights utterly boring), which is necessary for the future plot and finally gets them to Idaho. Hope you'll enjoy their interaction.

* * *

"Excuse me Miss, would you like something to drink?"

"Uhm, no thanks", Sara replied, casting the blonde stewardess a brief glance before turning around to continue her conversation with Catherine.

"Are you sure?", the stewardess asked again.

Sara faced her slightly irritated. "Yes, I am. Believe me, any more coffee and I won't sleep for a whole year."

"Well, you don't need to drink coffee. I've got some orange juice here. Fresh, sweet, and very tasty. I've never had any complaints."

"Hey", Catherine said, leaning over a confused Sara, "she doesn't want your juice honey, so why don't you ask someone else, ok?". The two blondes stared at each other for a second, before the younger one lowered her eyes and moved on.

With a satisfied smirk Catherine leaned back and watched the brunette who was sporting the _"Sara Sidle is trying to solve a tough puzzle"- _frown that Willows found so utterly adorable.

"What the hell was that about?", Sara finally asked, shaking her head.

Catherine had to laugh, leave it to Sara to be so oblivious. "That, Sidle, was our stewardess hitting on you."

"No way!", Sara exclaimed, shaking her head fiercely.

"Way", Catherine countered, grinning from ear to ear. "Hope I didn't spoil any chances."

"What? No, Jesus, you didn't spoil anything. Honestly, she could have been my daughter", Sara shuddered. "But speaking of daughter's, you wanted to tell me about your problems with Lindsey."

The rest of the flight passed without any further disturbances. Catherine told Sara all about Lindsey's reaction and the brunette tried her best to calm her down. Afterwards, both women tried to read a little, emphasis clearly on '_tried_', because each time the stewardess passed them, Sara mused about the fact that a woman who was probably half her age had hit on her and that her 'gaydar' had apparently gone from '_weak_' to '_non-existent_' and Catherine's concentration was interrupted by a sudden flush of jealousy .

* * *

Yes, I told you it was short. But hey, it was the second one today. And who says that you can't enjoy a quickie?

So what do you think? Liked it? Hated it? Found it ok? Absolutely fricking loved it?

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

Hi guys, please forgive me for not updating, but I've been to a computer-free holiday for the last few weeks. But now I'm back in the game, and I hope a slightly longer chapter will make it up to you.

I also want to thank all of you who took the time to review, it really means a lot to me and keeps me going. Speaking of reviews, I want to thank (and apologise to) **Ponys** whose review made me laugh so hard that I had to integrate it into the story. Hope you forgive me!

* * *

"I think we need to turn left at the next junction", Catherine's voice interrupted the companionable silence.

"All right, navigator, left we go", Sara answered while turning the rental car that had awaited them at the airport around. "It's really quite nice here, isn't it", she added while accelerating.

Catherine looked outside at the passing landscape. It was a crisp autumn day, and after they had left the city, they've been driving through a rural idyll, the leaves of the many trees surrounding them already turning to read and yellow.

"Yeah", she agreed, "beautiful day, even if it's in the middle of nowhere."

Sara grinned at her older colleagues antics. "Well, apparently they do have hotels in the middle of nowhere", she said while pulling into the drive-way of what looked like an old-fashioned country-style hotel.

"Wow, that actually looks rather nice", Catherine mumbled in appreciation.

Sara only grinned, and since she was still grateful that Catherine had let her drive without the usual discussion decided to spare her blonde companion the teasing comment that wanted to escape her. Instead she just parked next to the row of rental cars that apparently belonged to some of their really early colleagues. They grabbed their luggage and headed towards the entrance lobby where a red-headed woman in a pinstriped suit rushed towards them.

"Welcome Ladies, welcome! I'm Gabby Miller, and on behalf of the whole BEANA-Team, I'd like to welcome you to our conference. Now, you must be from either Reno or Vegas, because that are the only two all-female teams left."

"Vegas", Catherine said, "I'm Catherine Willows, and this is Sara Sidle, pleasure to meet you Miss Miller."

"Oh please, just Gabby, after all we're all just a bunch of friends, right?"

"Right, Gabby", Sara smiled the fake smile that she usually reserved for Ecklie, as Catherine noticed with a grin. "Thanks so much for the nice welcome, but we'd really like to take our luggage to our room if you wouldn't mind?"

"Oh of course not, Sara, right you are. It's always nice to freshen up after sitting on the plane for hours, isn't it? The reception is over there, here's the programme and all other information you might need. The official welcome dinner will start at 7:30 and if there are any further questions, please, don't hesitate to ask, I'm here to make your stay as pleasant as possible.", Gabby said, while simultaneously dropping a pound of brochures in Sara's arms, throwing her a flirtatious smile and gesturing towards the reception and the restaurant entrance.

When Catherine and Sara finally headed towards reception, the latter gave a long sigh.

"This woman is a nightmare... They should keep her from drinking coffee. And what the hell does 'BEANA' stand for?"

Catherine gave a short laugh. "Apparently it means 'Blood-Splatter: Exiting And New Approaches.' "

Sara rolled her eyes. "Well, I bet you a hundred bucks that this acronym was Miss Miller's idea."

"You win hands down."

They shared a laugh, before turning towards the older man behind the counter. After he had handed each of them a key to their shared room, which he had praised with "oh yes, Miss Willows, don't you worry, your supervisor booked a mighty fine room for you ladies", they exchanged a quick glance before grabbing their bags and heading towards the elevator.

"Hey Sherlock, is that you?" The booming voice made Sara stop in her tracks. She dropped her suitcase and turned around.

"Watson? No way, man, what are you doing here?" She nearly jumped towards the giant good-looking man who was standing there with his arms wide open. He enveloped her in a bear hug, lifting her off the floor. When he finally let go of her, she still held onto his arm while turning to face Catherine who was watching their exchange intently.

Catherine was torn by different emotions. Seeing Sara so excited and happy made her smile, but since her 'car-epiphany' she had started to feel a slight tinge of jealousy whenever someone approached the brunette.

Seeing the look of curiosity on the blonde's face, Sara saw it necessary to make introductions. "Cath, I want you to meet one of my buddies from Frisco. This is Luke Watson, he's a DNA-specialist..."

"Was", Luke interrupted her. "I actually made CSI a couple of years ago."

"Wow, that's great Wats. I always thought you would make it. Well, this is Catherine Willows, from the lab in Vegas."

"Catherine, very nice to meet you", Luke said. Catherine let go of her bag and stepped over the luggage in order to shake the offered hand.

"Likewise", she said and meant it. He seemed like a nice guy, very handsome, and -judging by the conversation he and Sara immediately immersed themselves in- also very intelligent.

"And have you read the article in 'Forensic Experts' about the new laser microscope. It's totally amazing what you..."

Catherine sighed. As cute as it was listening to Sara Sidle speak Geek, she was really desperate for a shower, and maybe a short nap before dinner. She cleared her throat to remind the two friends of her presence.

"Huh?", a slightly disoriented Sara asked, interrupting her fascinating discussion with her long lost friend.

Catherine stifled the grin that wanted to erupt. "Sara, I'll let you guys catch up. I'm going to our room, I'd like to unpack, and maybe take a shower."

"Oh ok, you sure that's fine?", Sara enquired.

"Positive, take your time. Luke, nice to meet you and see you at dinner."

"You bet", he answered with an easy smile.

Catherine took her suitcase and went to look for their room. She opened the door and took a look around. "Mighty fine indeed", she mumbled. The room was rather large and quite tastefully decorated. The two beds were big enough to be comfortable and far enough from each other to allow at least a bit of privacy. She dropped her suitcase on the bed closest to the door and let the brochures and her handbag fall next to it. Unclasping the buckles of the suitcase, she thought about the nice hot shower she would indulge in.

"'_Criminalistics all around the world', _what the hell?", she squealed, throwing the book an incredulous glance. She sure as hell hadn't packed _that _into her suitcase. Nancy Drew: yes, romance novels: maybe, textbooks: not a chance. She flipped the suitcase over to get a look at the name tag on the back. '_Sara Sidle_' it said in a neat script, followed by the lab's phone number.

"Fantastic", Catherine groaned. Yes, she had noticed that they had the same suitcase when Sara had arrived at the airport. But she had never thought that they could mix them up, since her handle was totally frazzled.

"_Well_", she mused while giving Sara's suitcase a quick once-over. "_Seems like a manufacturing error._" True enough, Sara's bag exhibited the same weakness.

Shaking her head she turned the suitcase over when its contents started to spill out. Oh yeah, this was getting better by the minute! She bent down to pick up Sara's stuff.

"_Textbook... Plastic bag with, wow, hiking boots, what is that woman planning? Socks... Magazine... More socks... Wait a second!_" Catherine picked up the magazine she had just put on the bed, staring at it, mouth agape and mind blank. She blinked several times, not grasping the implications of what she had just found, questions thundering through her brain. Why on earth would Sara own a magazine like that? And why would she take it with her...? The thought made Catherine shudder. Those polished photo-shopped plastic dolls were just... Well, ewww! But '_ewww-factor_' aside, did that mean that Sara was interested in girls? Now that would be completely '_un-ewwwy_ 'and a rather pleasant surprise. "_Does that even mean, that I might not be as chanceless as I thought_?", Catherine wondered, before dropping her head in her hands, trying to stop it from exploding. This was too much and too inconclusive information, too fast, and too surprising. She needed time to think about this.

"_Right_", she thought while stuffing Sara's belongings back into the suitcase, rolling her eyes at the bed linen that her -indeed rather neurotic- colleague had brought in order to avoid any contact with the '_germ infested hotel linen_', "_what am I going to do now?_"

She had two choices. Either she could admit to Sara that she had confounded the suitcases. "_Yeah, maybe when hell freezes over_", she scoffed. "_That would lead to a whole bunch of awkwardness._" The other possibility was to play innocent, pretend she hadn't opened the suitcase and wait for Sara to discover the mix-up. So, letting Sara see her underwear or admitting to finding a porn mag in Sara's suitcase (because there was no way that Sara could believe that she didn't see it)? Tough choice! Playing ignorant it was.

Catherine closed the suitcase, placed it closer to the centre of the room, put her jacket on top of it, making it look untouched, and sat down on her bed, slipping off her shoes. There was nothing she could do apart from waiting, she couldn't unpack and she couldn't take a shower, so she might at least start to read those welcome pack brochures.

* * *

That's it for today. Feedback feeds my muse (that's why they call it that way, duh), so pleeease review :-).

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

Surprise! A new chapter is ready. Thank the reviewers for this quick update, they keep me going. It is a rather short one, but it felt like a natural break. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Sara opened the door to her hotel room, nearly stumbling over her bags. She swallowed the curse that wanted to escape her lips when her gaze fell onto the sleeping form of Catherine. As quietly as possible she closed the door and carried her bags towards the unoccupied bed, glancing at her colleague, and nearly stumbling again. Watching Catherine had never been good for her concentration and apparently it started to affect her coordination as well. Shaking her head she dropped her suitcase on the bed.

"_Pull yourself together, Sidle_", she chided herself. That worked. For about four seconds. Then she turned around again. There was something incredibly cute about the sleeping blonde who was sprawled out on her bed, covered in the brochures that she had obviously read before falling asleep, the reading glasses still on her nose.

"_Seems like these brochures are about as exciting as they look... BEANA, my ass_", Sara thought while unsnapping the suitcase. "_And seems like I'm going to unpack before Catherine._" With that she opened the suitcase, her arm stopping midair.

"_What the fuck?_" She stared at the picture of Lindsey on top of what appeared to be a whole lot of Catherine's underwear, before swiftly closing the lid again. She needed a moment to let it sink in. Apparently Catherine had confounded their suitcases. Damn department issued bags. "_And apparently Catherine wears black lacy thongs_", the annoying voice inside her head that usually only popped up at highly inappropriate moments commented.

"_Oh just get a grip_", she hissed at her inner self. This was absolutely not the time to think about Catherine's taste in underwear. Even though she was pretty sure she had seen some '_Hello Kitty' _panties somewhere inside the suitcase... "_Arghh, that is just so not the point!_"

Slightly panicky she looked over at Catherine's bed, where the blonde was still snoring softly.

"_Think Sidle, think! Thank god, Catherine hasn't started to unpack yet. I really wouldn't want to have to explain to her how that magazine got inside my bag. Or why I might enjoy looking at naked women. So, I could tell her that she took my suitcase... Well, no, I really don't fancy letting her know that I've seen her underwear. It's bad enough that I'll have to live with the image of Cat wearing 'kitty-shorts' in my head, I don't need her to know about it. I'll just swap the bags then, yeah, that's the best idea._"

Having made a decision, Sara carried the closed suitcase towards the other one. She put the jacket that Catherine had left on Sara's suitcase on top of Catherine's, carefully rearranging it so that it looked untouched. Now she just needed to unpack and pretend nothing ever happened. Easy enough.

"_Yeah, just pretend you've never seen that thong..._", her inner voice taunted her.

"_Oh just shut up, will ya_?"

* * *

Review?? Pleaaaase?

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

Well isn't it lucky for you that I tend to suffer from insomnia? So, here you go, new chapter to get you into "conference mood". Now enjoy and let me thank all of you who are kind enough to review. Your feedback is highly appreciated and I think I could write a whole new story with all the great suggestions you make.

* * *

Catherine was awoken by a rather loud crash. It took her a couple of seconds to remember where she was. Oh yes, a hotel room in the middle of nowhere, attending a stupid conference with a name that sounded a lot like legumes. She propped herself up, thereby throwing down the whole bunch of leaflets that she had shared her bed with. Looking around she tried to localise the origin of the noise that had roused her. The culprit was easily found: Sara's bedside lamp was still rolling on the floor.

"Oh hey, sorry, I didn't want to wake you", she heard the owner of said lamp apologise.

Catherine threw her a dozy look before erupting in laughter. There stood Sara Sidle, arms inside a pillowcase , trying to put her own sheets on the bed.

"Jesus Sidle, neurotic much?", Catherine enquired with a grin.

"I am NOT neurotic!", Sara huffed. "You are a CSI, you know what kind of disgusting stuff we always find in hotel rooms."

"Well, be that as it may, all that stuff couldn't keep me from falling asleep", Catherine replied.

"Yeah, I did notice that", Sara grinned, "in fact, it was hard to miss, you snoring and all..." Her teasing was interrupted by Catherine's pillow, aimed at her head.

"Watch it young lady, I let you know that I do not snore. Nor drool for that matter. And now, if you don't object, I'd like to take a shower before dinner."

"Yeah, that's fine", Sara shrugged, holding Catherine's pillow at arm's length and dropping it on the blonde's bed, shuddering with revulsion. "I'll finish unpacking and then we can go to dinner."

Catherine nodded, opening the suitcase that Sara must have exchanged while she had been asleep. Taking out fresh clothes, a towel, and her toiletries, she headed off to the bathroom, to finally take that long anticipated hot shower.

When Catherine stepped out of the bathroom, she felt wonderfully refreshed and squeaky clean. Sara however felt both, flushed and speechless, by the thoughts her smutty subconscious produced when seeing her colleague looking so radiant and natural. Fortunately for her, Catherine didn't notice her staring, too busy trying to untangle her still wet hair.

"You might wanna get changed as well, it's already 7:10", Catherine told Sara, who silently nodded, taking her clothes to the bathroom.

* * *

It was nearly half seven when Catherine and Sara finally made it downstairs. Heading inside the restaurant, they were immediately greeted by Luke who led them to his table. To Catherine's surprise, Sara seemed to know nearly all of their neighbours from either San Francisco or previous conferences. She couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable. First of all she wasn't really used to not being the centre of everyone's attention and second of all Sara's rather unusual display of familiarity, touchiness, and sometimes even flirting towards her acquaintances, made Catherine wonder whether some of them had been more than friends to her younger colleague. But soon after they were officially welcomed by Gabby and her gang (as Luke called them, resulting in a round of suffocated laughter all around the table) and the dinner had started, Catherine felt much more at ease, enjoying the conversations and discreetly observing Sara.

Just before dessert, Catherine excused herself, she wanted to call Lindsey and wish her good-night. Nancy answered the phone after three rings. The sisters exchanged the latest news, before Catherine asked to speak to Lindsey.

"Yeah, just a second, I'll call her", Nancy answered, shouting for her niece. Catherine could hear murmur in the background and waited for her daughter to answer the phone.

"Cath", her sister's voice said, "I'm sorry, but Lindsey doesn't want to talk to you right now."

"Oh", Catherine whispered, biting back tears.

"I'm so sorry, sis, she doesn't really talk to anyone right now.", Nancy tried to console her.

"Mhm, listen Nance, I have to go, take care", Catherine babbled, before closing the phone and staring at it blankly. She took a deep breath, tried to put a brave smile on her face and went back inside the restaurant, where her colleagues were sitting, laughing and enjoying what looked like chocolate cake.

"Hey Catherine, you just missed Sherlock here doing an impression of your boss, the bugman.", Luke told her, when she sat down. "She's really good, I remember seeing him giving a talk at a forensic entomologist conference years ago."

Catherine threw Sara an incredulous glance. "You can imitate Grissom?", she asked.

"Well I've known him for years, sure", Sara shrugged.

"My my, you're full of surprises, Sara", Catherine said, smiling at the brunette. "So, fancy telling me why they call you Sherlock?".

Sara groaned, while Luke and his friend Andy cracked up.

"It's really nothing", she mumbled.

"BS, Sidle. Well Catherine, it's a lovely story. A few years back, when Sara was still working with us, we had this Halloween party, where it was mandatory to wear costumes. Now, neither Sidle nor I were too thrilled at that thought, so we considered the question of what to wear over a couple of beers. After an hour of me suggesting costumes and Sara dismissing each and every one of them as stupid..."

"Hey", Sara interrupted. "You had only two ideas, 'Sonny and Cher' and "The Beatles", but Cher is stupid and we were only two and I'm not a bloke. SO.."

"Shut it Sherlock and let me tell the story. Well, after quite a long time, and even more beers, I finally had this brilliant thought of us dressing up as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Ok, Sara had to dress up seeing as I already am a Watson. Fortunately for me, she really likes the books and was incredibly drunk, so she agreed. The next morning she tried to get out of it, but I wouldn't let her. To cut a long story short, she did it and came in full drag, pipe and all. There are actually still some pictures of that hanging at our lab. Needless to say, the name sort of stuck."

Catherine looked from Sara's indignant face to Luke and Andy who were nearly doubling over with laughter and started laughing as well, imagining a young Sara Sidle dressing up as the most famous imaginary detective in history.

By the time they finished dinner Catherine was thoroughly enjoying herself, Lindsey's behaviour put at the back of her mind. She was laughing at Sara's and Luke's constant teasing and bickering and Andy had secretly promised to mail her the pictures of Halloween.

After the four of them had indulged in a nightcap at the hotel bar, they went back to their respective rooms, all of them just a tiny bit tipsy. It took Catherine two trys to actually open the door.

"Tadaaa", she exclaimed, when she had finally manage to unlock it.

Sara just laughed at her antics. "You really can't hold your drink, can you", she joked, watching the blonde stumble towards Sara's bed and throwing herself on top of it.

Catherine's answer was swallowed by the mattress, so Sara just chuckled, heading towards the bathroom to put on her PJ's. When she emerged from it five minutes later, she was wearing striped pyjama bottoms and a tank top. She went to her bed which was still occupied by Catherine.

"Cath", she asked.

"Hmm?"

"You are lying in MY bed."

"Uhum..."

"Cath", she tried again, this time not waiting for a reply. "Why don't you put on your PJ's and go to your own bed?" "_Not that I want you to_", she added mentally.

"Don't want to", came the mumbled reply. "Your sheets are very comfy".

This made Sara laugh out loud. "Yeah for 200 dollars I expect as much", she said, poking Catherine lightly.

Finally, Catherine scrambled to her feet and went to get changed. Sara nearly dropped '_Criminalistics all around the world' _when Catherine came back into the room. The blonde was wearing boxer shorts and an oversized UNLV T-shirt, her hair in a ponytail, her feet and long legs bare. It took Sara a conscious effort to close her mouth. She always knew that Catherine Willows was hot. But this was actually more than hot, this was hot and cute, she mused. Luckily Catherine was too tired to pay her gawking roommate any attention. She walked towards Sara's bed, stopping two steps in front of it, flushing, before turning towards her own bed and climbing inside, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "stupid, tempting sheets"

* * *

Any thoughts you'd like to share with me? Then please, push that tempting little button on the left.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

Ok, this chapter was a tough one. I mean, after all they are attending a conference, so I feel bad, skipping that part completely, just to get them to Friday, where all of the good stuff will be happening. So basically, this chap is me, trying to assuage my guilty conscience AND hopefully not boring you with all of that forensic stuff I have not a single clue about.

Oh, and I'd like to warn you, university starts next week and I will have to move to my flat until then, so I apologise in advance if updates might be a bit slower. But on the other hand your amazing and supportive reviews might just get me to squeeze a bit more 'writing time' in there hint hint.

* * *

When Catherine awoke on Thursday morning, she was alone in the room. Sara's bed was empty, Sara nowhere to be seen, and the bathroom door was open, no shower running. Catherine sighed when glancing at Sara's neatly made bed. She had been slightly tipsy last night, but not nearly tipsy enough to not be able to control her actions or remember them. It was just so... tempting to lie in Sara's bed, touching the same sheets the brunette's body would later touch, feeling the gorgeous and obscenely expensive linen Sara treated herself with. But of course she had known that she couldn't spend the night there. It was not like she expected Sara to say "hey Catherine, fancy sleeping with me tonight if you like my sheets so much?", even though she wouldn't have complained if that had been the case. Unfortunately for her, that had not happened. Sara had been sweet but reserved, trying to get Catherine to sleep in her own bed.

"Well of course she did", Catherine mumbled. "It's not like SHE is interested in having me in her bed." The blonde gave a long sigh. Somehow seeing that magazine had stirred a buried hope that Sara might be interested in women, might even be interested in her.

"_Yeah Willows, because every straight guy and every lesbian or bisexual will automatically fall for you... Dream on girl!_", she mocked herself.

"_And besides, maybe she thinks she doesn't have a chance. Or she is shy about sharing a bed with someone_", the more optimistic part of herself, that had a much higher self-esteem, said.

"Oh, who am I kidding?", she groaned, throwing the comforter back and getting out of bed in order to get herself dressed.

When she came out of the bathroom she found Sara standing next to the window, sweat soaked running clothes clinging to her skin, sucking on a bottle of water and breathing heavily. Catherine nearly lost her footing when Sara turned around to face her, the brunette's face flushed, hair in a loose ponytail, chest heaving, and muscles rippling, an endorphin induced haze in her eyes.

"Morning", Catherine said, nearly stumbling over the simple greeting. "Good run?"

Sara nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah, couldn't sleep, and the weather is just fantastic. Much fresher air than in Vegas, too.", she choked out before taking a deep breath. There was no way in hell she would tell the blonde the reason for her insomnia. Contrary to the nightmares that chased her often after especially gruesome cases in Vegas, this night her dreams had been rather pleasant. In fact, too pleasant... When the thought of Catherine climbing into bed with her to '_enjoy the sheets_' had awoken her for the third time, she had finally given up on sleep, had grabbed her running gear and had gone for a long an cleansing run at a punishing rhythm. Now all she needed was an ice cold shower and then hopefully she would be ready to face the day -and Catherine-, without any further disturbances.

"I think I need a shower", Sara finally added, already kicking off her running shoes.

Catherine just nodded. "Yeah, seems like it."

* * *

When both ladies were finally ready, they headed for breakfast.

"You know", Catherine said when they were inside the elevator. "I really admire you."

Sara nearly choked. It wasn't often that Catherine would compliment her.

"For what?", she asked.

"You know, running in the mornings, keeping fit. I don't really have much time for that, or rather, I don't really take the time. I rather enjoy something less exhaustive and more pleasurable.", Catherine explained.

Sara threw her a look. Was Catherine flirting with her?

"Like what?", she asked.

"Oh lots of things. Reading, dancing, going out", Catherine elaborated.

"_Oh, so no flirting_", Sara thought disappointedly.

"I do like that too", she said, when the elevator made a "bing" noise and the doors opened. "It's just... Running helps me clear my head. Exorcise my demons and stuff, you know?", Sara elaborated.

"Hmm, fair enough. Even though there are also far more pleasurable things to help with that", Catherine said with a wink, before strutting towards the restaurant, leaving a dazzled Sara behind.

"_Ok, that WAS flirting_", Sara thought before following the blonde, doing her best not to stare at the perfect backside in front of her.

Catherine on her part was rather embarrassed, and happy that she could hide her blush while helping herself to breakfast from the very delicious looking buffet.

"_Stupid, Willows_", she berated herself. "_Stupid, stupid, stupid._" She had always been a flirt and a tease, but she should not forget that Sara was not 'one of the guys', who were used to it and didn't take it seriously. By the time she went to the table where Sara and their friends from last night were already sitting, her blush had disappeared and she was happy to see that Sara looked unfazed by her comment , throwing her a smile while chewing her cereals.

"Catherine, have a seat", Watson greeted her, while pulling out the chair in-between him and Sara for her. "We were just discussing what workshops we wanted to participate in today."

Catherine tried to remember the programme from Gabby's presentation last night and her studying of the notes. On Thursday there were quite a few workshops and lectures to choose from, "thank god not all of them on blood-splatter" she remembered Sara's comment. Same on Friday morning. For Friday afternoon Gabby had promised them a "team-building and challenging competition", whatever the hell that meant. They would continue with lectures on Saturday morning, before having a feed-back and discussion round, finished with a gala dinner. On Sunday there wasn't much left to do except for packing and departing.

They discussed their choices until Gabby plus '_the Gang_' started their morning address.

* * *

When they came down from lunch from their respective activities, Catherine was pleasantly surprised that her lecture and workshop on '_Things you never knew you could learn from blood'_ had actually been quite interesting. In fact, she had to admit to herself that she was actually enjoying to learn new stuff and not to deal with annoying suspects and witnesses for a couple of days.

She was soon joined by Luke, Andy, and Sara, who had chosen some DNA-lecture and were having a heated discussion over what they expected the development of DNA-research and methods to be over the next ten years.

Catherine was delighted to see that academic side of her younger colleague, cheeks flushed from excitement, gesticulating with her expressive hands to underline important points and producing elegant and flawless argumentations at a breathtaking speed. Astoundingly enough, Luke and Andy didn't seem nearly half as impressed as Catherine as they continued to fire back one counter-argument after another. Catherine was happy enough to just listen to the three of them, she figured that once the guys would start to dig into lunch she might be able to get a word in.

The afternoon very much resembled the morning, only this time Sara and Catherine participated in the same workshop, which unfortunately was not nearly half as interesting as the ones in the morning, because the instructor was talking at the speed of a snail. By the end of the workshop, Sara's constant sarcastic comments had Catherine on the brink of a laughing fit, her face bright red by the attempt to suffocate her giggles and the embarrassment of having the lecturer stare at her with unconcealed disdain.

* * *

After dinner, which Catherine nearly choked on, because Sara repeated her impersonation of their 'snail-teacher', the group decided to go to the village bar, mostly because Andy was convinced that Gabby was hitting on him and didn't want to face her in the hotel bar.

The local bar was actually rather nice, Catherine was pleasantly surprised to find a good selection of cocktails and the boys and Sara were enjoying cold beers. A live band was playing and soon enough they were dancing. Catherine had never expected Sara to be a good dancer, but when Luke more or less dragged the brunette on the dancing floor, her movements had been smooth and rhythmical, not missing a single beat. Both of the guys were also quite good, and Catherine fleetingly wondered whether that was a CSI thing, because both, Nick and Warrick, were excellent dancers as well. So good in fact, that Catherine and Andy were still dancing when an exhausted Sara and Luke made their way back to their table, ordering a new round of cold drinks.

"So how long have you had that crush on her?", Luke finally asked Sara, who was looking intently at Catherine's dancing form, enchanted by the fluent movements the former dancer was making.

"What?", she squeaked. "I don't..."

Luke interrupted her with an disbelieving laugh. "Save the denial for someone who doesn't know you as well as I do... Now spill."

Sara opened and closed her mouth a couple of times doing a pretty good impression of a fish outside of water before finally taking a deep breath.

"A couple of years", she finally admitted. "I think the first time I saw her I instantly found her attractive, but I tried to fight the feeling as long as possible, which did work for the first years."

When Luke nodded, Sara continued. "I mean, it's not just the fact that she is beautiful, but she is also a great mother. You should see her daughter, she's like a mini Catherine. And she is smart, overcame her past, and is a hell of a CSI. And she is infuriating, god most of the time I could strangle her when we are working a case together. She knows how to push me to my limits, and doesn't put up with my shit, which is probably the reason why we make such a great team. And besides, having this intense and passionate anger directed at me is such a turn on sometimes..." Sara trailed off, causing Luke to smirk.

"Yeah Sidle, you've always been kind of a masochist. Remember this one time you dated this really cute girl who turned out to work as a dominatrix at night?", Luke laughed out loud at the memory.

"Don't remind me, ok", Sara groaned. "That was horribly embarrassing."

They sat in companionable silence before Luke spoke again.

"So what are you gonna do?", he asked.

Sara just snorted. "Nothing, what else? Vegas is a bit different than Frisco, Luke. Most people don't even know I date women and think I still have feelings for Grissom."

Luke pulled a face. "Bugman, no way", he shuddered. "You'd probably bore each other to tears. Now Catherine on the other hand, yes, I do see a certain chemistry there. And besides, she seems to be very fond of you, at least judging by the looks she always throws you when she thinks you are not looking."

Sara stared at him unbelievingly. "Yeah sure", she scoffed. "She's about as straight as you can get. I don't even want to think about the amount of jerks she has dated during all these years. All of them male, of course."

Luke shook his head. "I don't know, I kind of get a bisexual vibe from her. At least she pays you much more attention than Andy or me. And besides, you were straight until you met your first girlfriend. And don't forget, my gaydar has always been much better than yours."

Sara had to laugh at that. "True enough", she finally caved. "But still, I won't risk losing our friendship."

"Your call", Watson said. "But always remember, no risk no fun", he added while downing his beer.

When Catherine and Andy finally joined them at the table they ordered one last round before heading back to the hotel, where they made a beeline for the elevator before Gabby could corner them.

Lying in their respective beds, neither of the two women could sleep: Catherine still buzzed by the dancing and the feeling of Sara's eyes watching her every move and Sara pondering over what Luke had told her.

* * *

So you see, I do mention the conference :-) And yes, I know that I already missed a couple of chances of getting them to admit their feelings, but I want them to get to know each other a little better before jumping each other... And there will be jumping, I promise you. Besides, I'm a tease, what can I say? So bear with me and be patient, we are getting there and you know what they say about building up anticipation...

Oh and a little hint of how we are getting there faster? More reviews - faster updates - sooner jumping, just keep that in mind ;-).

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

First of all, thank you, thank you, thank you, for actually writing 50 reviews so far, I never thought I could reach that bound. You guys make writing worthwhile, so a fresh update to show my gratitude. I also want to thank **Chelsee6** for pointing out some editorial weaknesses that I finally edited, hopefully making it easier to read the story.

But now, there is nothing left for me to say except for „Enjoy!".

* * *

After a rather restless night Sara was craving a good long run in the morning, but one look outside made her rethink that idea, rain was pouring down. Instead she opted for another chapter of _'Criminalistics all over the world'_. But somehow the textbook didn't seem half as interesting as the blonde on the other side of the room, cuddling with her pillow. Finally Sara couldn't take it anymore and went to take a shower.

She must have awoken Catherine, because by the time she came back into the room, the latter was stretching, greeting Sara with a loud yawn.

"Morning", she said. "Shitty weather isn't it? I hope that competition today is not an outdoor thing."

Sara laughed. "Yeah. Or, they could just cancel it, I'm sure most of us wouldn't mind."

Catherine pretended to be shocked. "Oh, my god! Someone alert Guinness, Sara Sidle is actually slacking off. What's next, you not working triples anymore?"

"Nah, but I might finally open that beach bar in Tahiti", Sara joked.

Giggling, Catherine got out of bed. "I'd love to see that. But the day that happens is probably going to be the day that Grissom is wearing Speedos to work."

Sara visibly shuddered. "Thanks a lot Cath, I could have done without that visual."

* * *

The morning passed quite quickly, both women decided to participate in the same workshop about the most bizarre blood-splatters ever to be found at crime scenes, which proved to be really entertaining. When it was time for lunch they went to the restaurant which was already buzzing with dozens of rumours about what the competition was going to be.

"Jeez", Sara said, when plopping down on a chair, "what is this? Preschool?."

The speculations were soon put too an end, when Gabby and her followers appeared, asking for everyone's attention.

"Alright folks", the redhead began, "I suppose all of you are already pretty excited about what today's challenge is all about. First off, as you might have noticed, the rain has stopped, so you'll be very happy to know, that the competition is gonna take place as planned."

"Ecstatically happy", Catherine grumbled, loud enough for Sara to hear, causing the brunette to snicker.

"Now, we tried to come up with something that is intellectually and physically challenging, and gives you not only the chance to prove how well you and your partner work together as a team, but also to improve your connection with one another, because as you all know, in our line of work it is crucial to be able to depend on your partner. Well I don't want to keep you guys in suspense any longer, this years challenge is going to be _'the forensic scavenger hunt'_", Gabby said excitedly.

"Oh yeah, definitely preschool", Sara scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Well then you won't mind that Luke and I are going to kick your ass?", Andy asked.

"In your dreams, kiddo", Sara responded.

Catherine had to bite back a laugh, sometimes the brunette was just much to competitive for her own good.

"_Which probably means that this is going to be one hell of an afternoon_", the older CSI sighed before returning her attention to Gabby who was trying to get some semblance of control over the excited chatter.

"This means that we expect you to be at reception at 2:30. Each team will get a compass, a map and a five minutes head start. There will be ten checkpoints, the last one back at the hotel. At each checkpoint you will have to solve a task in order to get to your next checkpoint. Mobile phones will be allowed in case of an emergency, but since we are all friends, we will operate on an honours system, so no outside help for the tasks or the navigation. The fastest team will win a surprise. And now, enjoy lunch and then prepare yourself for an afternoon full of fun", Gabby grinned, ignoring the somewhat less then enthused reactions from a rather large part of the participants.

The rest of the meal passed in a blur, Catherine trying to figure out which of her '_conferency indoor shoes' _to wear to avoid breaking her neck when stumbling over roots and branches, and Sara caught in-between an indignant disdain over such a silly task and a childish excitement of having a chance to defeat the boys.

* * *

After lunch they went up to their room, in order to get changed for the competition. Sara was perfectly equipped with her hiking boots, jeans and rain jacket, whereas Catherine looked so pitiful, that Sara finally offered her her running shoes to avoid any broken limbs.

More or less prepared they went downstairs, where they decided to enjoy a coffee with Luke and Andy before their names were called to start the race as the seventh team. After a round of '_good lucks'_ and more '_we are still going to kick your asses_' they went off, their first clue leading them straight into the forest.

It took Sara about ten minutes and seeing the same tree twice to find out that Catherine, a compass, and a map did just not mix, and from there on, it was mostly Sara leading and Catherine following the brunette, enjoying the clear air of the forest and offering helpful insights like "we're already on our way for 20 minutes, don't you think there should be a checkpoint soon?".

Sara, torn by her competitiveness and the pleasure of being in a forest alone with the object of her affection, tried not to be too snappy, which got easier when they finally got into a rhythm and found the next four checkpoints in rather quick succession.

The tasks were indeed rather challenging, there were bloodstains they had to analyse, and only when they had given good enough explanations for all of them, the guide handed them the next checkpoint info. Luminol had to be used on a huge sheet to make the next directions readable, they had to climb a tree to get an envelope containing another checkpoint location, find answers to '_who dunnit'_-scenarios, and so on.

By the time they were approaching the ninth checkpoint, they were actually quite enjoying themselves. As always they were working like a perfectly oiled tandem, but without the pressure of having to find a real murderer there was no reason for their tempers to clash.

"Hey, I think we made it", Catherine interrupted their friendly silence and pointed to a tree with a sheet of paper pinned to it and a plastic bag hanging on one of its branches.

"Yeah, seems like one of those unsupervised tasks", Sara said while looking around. "Unless someone had to use the bathroom."

They stopped in front of the tree, both of them reading the laminated paper, which stated:

'_Dear participants,_

_congratulations for making it this far, that shows that you already are part of an excellent team. But as you know, there is always room for improvement, so this task will help you to get to know your partner even better. _

_What we expect each of you to do, is to ask your partner three personal questions that you don't already know the answer to, and answer his or her questions truthfully. Of course, questions like "What is your favourite colour?" do NOT count. _

_So use this chance of creating a deeper bond, and only read the directions back to the hotel (which you can find in the plastic bag) when you have answered all of the questions._

_PS: Help yourself to the cookies that can be found in the bag as well!'_

When they finished reading the note, Sara and Catherine were both thinking the exact same thing.

"_Oh shit!"_

* * *

So, that's it, we are getting closer to the interesting stuff. I pretty much know what I want them to ask each other, but if you have any fantastic suggestions, please feel free to tell me. Any other feedback would also be highly welcomed, so don't be shy about the review button. I can't guarantee a new update tomorrow, because the next chapter is probably THE toughest chapter for me to write so far, so please forgive me if I might need a bit more time on that one.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

Thank you beloved readers for reviewing. As you can see, your support made me work faster than expected. Concerning this chapter, I figured that Cath and Sara have some unresolved issues they should talk about before a romance could start between them. So, let's have a look how they resolve these, shall we?

* * *

For what seemed like several minutes the two women stood next to each, completely silent, none of them daring to look at the other. Finally Catherine cleared her throat.

"Well, this is certainly unexpected", she said with a nervous laugh, throwing Sara a quick glance.

The brunette just nodded mutely, not trusting her voice.

"You know", Catherine finally offered while sitting down on a rather dry looking stone, "we could just pretend to have answered them. Or I could ask you about your favourite colour."

Sara raised her eyebrows. "We do have an honours system", she reminded the blonde pointedly.

"Oh come on Sara, you are not serious about this? It's just a fucking game", Catherine huffed.

"Yeah, maybe, but it's still cheating. I don't know about you, but I do have principles", Sara replied, her eyes finally meeting the blonde in a staring match.

Both of them felt their tempers rising, until Sara broke the eye contact.

"Maybe it's not such a bad idea", the brunette stated in a soft voice. "I mean you have to admit, we often fight over stupid things. Like, you know, scavenger hunts..."

Catherine actually had to grin at that.

"Yeah, but don't you think that has more to do with the fact that we are both very headstrong women who don't like to admit that they might be wrong? I doubt that answering questions about our most precious childhood experiences will help us with that."

"I don't know, ok", Sara said, sounding a bit exasperated. "But the fact is, I don't like to cheat, and I really don't like standing around here when it looks like it might be raining soon, and the next team will probably join us here in a couple of minutes. And I mean, we are friends, right? There are probably thousands of things we don't know about each other but might be interesting,"

"Ok, ok, but don't blame it on me, if we end up killing each other."

"Well the next team would certainly be thrilled to solve our little murder case instead of doing this stupid task", Sara commented dryly, which caused Catherine to chuckle, breaking the tension a little. "So, who starts?"

"Well, age comes before beauty Sidle", Catherine grinned.

Sara only rolled her eyes in response.

After a minute of silence, Sara looked at Catherine. "You gonna ask me something or not?"

Catherine blushed. "Yeah, I just don't know how..."

"Please, just ask me the question Catherine, before my bum gets totally wet", Sara, who had sat down in front of Catherine on the grass, replied.

"Ok... So why do domestic violence cases affect you so much?" Catherine spluttered.

Sara felt like someone had punched her in the gut, her breath leaving her. Leave it to Catherine to go straight for the jugular. Sara took a few deep breaths, willing herself to calm down. When she still hadn't replied, Catherine added quite embarrassedly.

"Forget it, I shouldn't have asked, that wasn't fair."

Finally Sara found her voice again. "No, it's ok, I think I owe you that answer for quite a while now. It's just not an easy topic, and when you asked me in the hallway, it was neither the place nor the time to talk about it. So, I would appreciate it if you could not interrupt me, or repeat this to anyone, do you think you can do that?"

Catherine just silently nodded.

Sara took another deep breath, this was it, this was telling the woman she lo.. uhm liked about her darkest secrets. It was not like she didn't trust Catherine, she just didn't want to be treated differently after her confession.

"I don't really know where to start", she finally whispered, looking at her feet. "I guess, when I was very young, by parents were sort of ok. They were one of these hippie couples, running a B&B near Frisco. I practically grew up with the smell of weed. But when I got older, the business went from slow to bankrupt, which, considering the fact that my father used most of the money for the B&B to buy booze or grass did not really come as a surprise. Anyhow, after the B&B closed, things changed. My father became a bitter man, and I suppose, since he was nothing to the world, he wanted at least to be something in the family", Sara said with a bitter laugh, still not looking at Catherine, missing the worried look on the blonde's features. "I really can't say whether he was better when he was high or in the few moments of clarity he had. He... He hit us. My mother, my brother, and me. He said we were the reason everything was going down, that he was happy before we were born, and that we were nothing to him. Later when he got down from his high, he usually cried and apologised. My mother, well I don't know, she never left him and I think one day she just gave up. She had always been a kind woman, but she just stopped caring, you know. She was on drugs 24/7, to numb the pain my father inflicted on her body and soul. It was the day of my thirteenth birthday. Of course, we didn't have a party, after all, I was not considered a gift to my parents...", Sara continued, her detached voice chilling Catherine to the bone, " but my father was so horribly drunk. I was sure, this time, he would beat me to death. But after one particularly vicious blow he just stopped. I didn't know what was going on and I didn't dare to look, until I heard a loud thump, and my father crashed down beside me. She... I... My mother, she, she stabbed him. Over and over again. I... I don't remember much, except for the screams, mine and hers, and his, until she stabbed his throat. And the blood... There was blood everywhere, I could see it, I could feel it and the smell...", Sara gagged, trying to remember that she was in the forest with Catherine, and not back in her childhood. "She went to prison, she could have gotten out of it by now, but as far as I know she never even tried. There is nothing left for her. My brother and I went into the system, but seeing as he was four years older than me, he only stayed for one year. After that, he joined the army, he never told me why, but I guess it was because the military is the furthest you can get from a hippie lifestyle. After that, I changed families twice, until I was finally adopted by a nice childless couple. They were great, and made me see that normal family life does not include beating your child with a bag of oranges. Unfortunately they died soon after I graduated from Harvard in a car crash. The other driver was never found. I think, that's what made me become an investigator", Sara's voice died down, her emotions finally taking their toll.

Catherine stared at the huddled woman in front of her, tears glistening in her eyes. She didn't know whether she wanted to cry for Sara, or to strangle the people that called themselves parents. She lightly put her hand on Sara's shoulder and when the brunette didn't flinch, she kneeled down in front of her, holding her in a tight embrace.

Sara closed her eyes, the cold and fear inside of her melting away by the motherly warmth Catherine's cocoon provided. When she was finally ready to let go, she looked up, shocked by the tears that had made their way down Catherine's face.

"Why are you crying?", she asked, her own voice weakened by tears.

Catherine looked at her disbelievingly, her features softening when she saw in Sara's eyes that the brunette was genuinely puzzled.

"Because I care for you", she told Sara in a soft voice, "because no child should ever suffer that way. And because you survived all of this and became the woman you are today. Strong, independent, compassionate, smart, beautiful..." Ok, now she was trailing off

Sara just stared at her. "So you don't hate me?"

"What on earth would I hate you for?", Catherine asked, shocked by Sara's question.

"Well apart from what I just told you, I always felt like you could not forgive me for closing Eddie's case", Sara elaborated, not daring to meet the blonde's gaze.

"Sara are you serious? I never hated you. Yes, I was pissed, and I said some really mean things to you, but not because of you. I know the system, hell I work the system. Sometimes we just can't get justice. I know that. But I was just so mad at the lack of evidence, at that Candeece girl, at the guy that killed my ex-husband and at the guy that called himself my ex-husband. He had to get himself shot, while hanging out with a girl that could be his daughter, taking drugs and risking MY daughter's life. And now my little girl lost her daddy, and even though he was a shitty husband, he was a better father. I was mad at so many things that day, and I was mad at myself that you were better with my daughter than I was, but I never ever hated you. In fact, once my head was clear again, I really felt bad about the way I had treated you, but by then we were already working together again, and I didn't want to bring it up. But I'm sorry, I should have. I never wanted you to doubt our friendship or think that I despise you for something you had no control over, I mean, you did more than any other CSI would have done", Catherine looked deep into the brunette's eyes that showed relief at the older woman's words. They were staring at each other, until they heard footsteps nearing.

"Hey girls", one of the members of the eighth team called. "What are you still doing here?"

Sara pulled herself together, discreetly wiping her cheeks before shouting back "Look at that sheet, and you'll know."

The other team passed them, reading the task, and groaned out loudly.

"Oh great. I get your point. We just go a bit further down into the forest so that all of us have a bit more privacy", the younger one said.

"Thanks guys, we appreciate it", Catherine answered, throwing them a smile.

With a polite nod the men disappeared.

When they were out of earshot, Catherine looked at Sara.

"So, seeing as you asked me about Eddie, I guess it's my turn again", she said, breaking the tension a little.

"What?", Sara spluttered. "You are such a cheat Cath. That wasn't really a question."

"Sara, it was a question, I answered it, and I thought you wanted to win this game, so we should probably hurry up a bit", Catherine replied.

"Fine", Sara caved. "But please, let's try to keep this a little less emotional, ok?"

"Ok", Catherine said. "Well ok, not completely unemotional, because this one is actually about, well, your emotions."

"Oh fucking great", Sara huffed. "Ok, Willows, shoot, I want to get this over with."

"Are you in love with Grissom?", Catherine finally asked, frightened of the answer.

"What?", Sara stared at the blonde in disbelief. "Why on earth does everyone think that? I like him. As a friend. He is a great mentor, and I enjoy his company, and for a brief nanosecond I thought we might be a good couple because we are so similar. But then I realised that there is not the slightest hint of romantic feelings, so it would never work. So no, I am most definitely not in love with Griss."

Catherine breathed out a sigh of relief. She had always been under the impression that the brunette was completely smitten, but Sara's storm of protest made her realise that for once the lab's rumour mill had been mistaken.

"So Catherine", Sara said with the hint of an evil glint in her eyes, "seeing as it is my turn now, why don't you tell me how it was to be a dancer?"

Catherine blushed at that. Even though she wasn't ashamed of her past, the thought of Sara thinking about her scantily dressed made her gulp. And besides, not all of her memories of that time were pleasant ones. She cleared her throat.

"Well, at first I thought it was just one big adventure, you know. First time in Vegas, showgirls, glitter, the promise of lots of money. And you know me, being on stage, feeling so many eyes on me and knowing that I was making each and every one in the audience lust after me, was a turn on. But soon enough, it just became disgusting. I started snorting coke, I mean, everyone did it, and it helped me feel good and got me through the nights feeling like I could take on the world."

Sara stared at her, mouth agape.

"What, you never wondered why I could identify cocaine with just one look?", Catherine asked, amused at the brunette's disbelief.

"Well anyway, one of these nights I met Eddie, he was actually quite the charmer and not nearly half as sleazy as our usual clients. We had an on and off thing going until one night my best friend Stephanie was murdered and I decided to quit the dancing and the drugs. I got clean, went to school again, assisting at the lab to pay for my studies. And then, shortly after I had started working at the lab full-time, I got pregnant. Eddie was initially shocked but soon he was over the moon and he proposed. The first two years were great, but soon enough he wanted out of the domestic life and his freedom back. Let's just say that I don't even want to know how many other girls he slept with. I finally had enough and filed for divorce, and the rest is history", Catherine finished her story.

"I'm sorry", Sara said. "I'm sorry he is dead, and I'm sorry that I didn't solve his case, but that makes him a jerk, who sure as hell didn't deserve you."

Catherine smiled at the honesty in Sara's voice. "I know. And I'm over him, but thanks."

"You're welcome", Sara replied, gently nudging the blonde's shoulder. "And I think you got one last question. So, what is it you always wanted to know about the elusive Sara Sidle?"

Catherine thought about that question long and hard. There was actually just one thing that was burning on her mind, but she wasn't sure it would go down too well with the brunette. Besides, she didn't want to ruin the new bond they had just created. But on the other hand, this was like a once in a lifetime chance, and if she didn't ask Sara now, she would probably never know. "_Oh to hell with it_."

"Have you ever been with a woman?"

* * *

Muahahaha. I admit, the cliffy is evil, but otherwise the next chapter would be too short. And I also plan on continuing to write immediately, so if you are lucky, the next chapter might be online later today. Sooo, your short review for my long chapter, seems like a fair deal, no?


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

See, I'm a good girl, resolving that cliffy already. Unfortunately I have no idea whether I'll be able to update before the week-end because tomorrow I have to move houses and that is going to take a while. But since I'm equally excited of getting them together, you never know.

* * *

"Have you ever been with a woman?"

Sara was completely taken aback. After the seriousness of their previous questions, this was not what had been expecting. "_Screw the previous questions_", she mused, "_that's something you would never have expected Catherine to ask you._"

So instead of answering she just asked the first thing that came to her mind.

"Have you?"

Catherine chuckled. "Uh uh, Sidle. If you want to go all kindergarten on me and steal my question that's fine. But first I want you to answer me."

Sara examined the blonde, who looked much too smug for her own good. What was Catherine playing at? Had Luke been right, was it possible that Catherine might be interested in her? Or was she just so shocked by the fact that Sara didn't have a thing for Grissom that she tried to find explanations for it?

Sara felt herself blushing, her cheeks a flaming red.

"Yeah", she finally answered.

Catherine felt like christmas, her birthday, and Lindsey's graduation were all falling on the same day, and tried hard to fight the glee that wanted to spread over her face. "Do tell", she said excitedly.

This time it was Sara's turn to look smug.

"Uh uh, I answered your question, now I want you to answer mine."

Even though she had felt a flicker of hope, Sara's heart nearly stopped when she heard Catherine's strong and calm answer.

"I have."

Sara's mind did go numb. Catherine was bisexual! Catherine had admitted to having been with at least one women and she had looked more than pleased when Sara had told her the same! Her brain started racing. What the hell did all of that mean?

After watching a stock-still Sara for at least a minute, Catherine finally burst out laughing.

"Jesus, if I had known that this would make you completely shut up, I would have told you years ago."

"Oh very funny, Willows. Please excuse me for being a little shocked that the woman I considered the poster child of straightness turns out to be, well less straight."

This made Catherine laugh harder.

"Sara, I was a dancer, did you honestly think that being around more or less naked women all the time and having pervy old men stare at you makes you straight?"

Sara did an excellent job at her '_fish out of water impression'_.

Finally Catherine took pity on the thoroughly confused woman and said: "Listen, we can talk about our sexual experiences later if you want, but right now, all I want to do is get back to the hotel and have a nice hot cup of coffee. We've already established that I am rubbish with maps, so if you would be kind enough to get us back, I would really appreciate it."

Glad to be given a task Sara took the directions to the hotel out of the plastic bag and tried to find their way on the map.

"What is it?", Catherine asked, when the brunette furrowed her brows.

"It's weird, the instructions take us back in a wide arc, but on the map there is also a small footpath leading directly to the hotel."

"Well, you're the scout, so lead on Macduff."

"You do know that this is a common misquote, right?", Sara asked, "Shakespeare never..."

"Shut up Sidle and walk", Catherine said nudging the younger woman forward.

They took the shorter way, mainly because Catherine started to feel cold and Sara really wanted to beat the guys in the race, since Luke and her had a bet going that involved a bottle of the finest tequila.

According to the map they had already walked for a mile and were still half a mile away from the hotel when they saw the reason why Gabby's team had recommended the other way. Their path sloped down steeply, the hillside they had to climb down at least 20 meters deep.

"Ok, we'd better head back before it starts to get dark"; Sara sighed, turning around, when Catherine's hand on her arm stopped her.

"It's not that bad", the blonde spoke. "We just need to go down slowly.

"Yeah sure", the brunette scoffed. "The soil is still wet from the rain and probably slippery as hell. I sure as hell don't want to break my neck."

"Oh don't be such a wuss", Catherine mocked, beginning the descent.

"Catherine, come back, woman, damnit, that's dangerous", Sara swore, carefully following the blonde.

They had descended ten meters, when Catherine turned around, throwing the cursing woman a triumphant smile.

"See, not a problem at all", she said, climbing forwards, when her foot slipped, making her stumble over the edge.

* * *

Now that my friends is what they call a cliff-hanger in the most literal sense. Am I evil? You have no idea...

So, let me know what you think and I might not let Catherine die. Oh, who am I kidding, you know I love them and would never do such a thing, but reviews would still be cool.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

Thank you so much for your reviews. Yeah, I know I'm an evil evil dog, so consider this chapter a peace offer.

* * *

When Sara saw Catherine stumbling over the edge she felt like her worst nightmare was coming true. Her face a mask of terror she slid down the path, desperately digging her nails into everything she could hold onto to avoid falling down as well. When she reached the place where Catherine had dropped she lied flat on her stomach, along the edge, looking over the cliff. Catherine was hanging a good meter below her, holding onto a big root that was sticking out of the sharp incline. Underneath her feet was a harsh void of at least ten meters. There was no way that Sara could reach Catherine from where she was lying and pull her up.

"Sara, I can't hold it much longer, please, do something", Catherine begged, panic-stricken.

"Hold on Catherine, I'll get you out of there", Sara shouted, frantically looking for a solution. "Can you maybe put your feet on something?"

"No, I can't feel anything, and I don't want to look down."

"No, don't look down", Sara warned, not wanting Catherine to completely panic.

There was only one thing they could try.

"Cath, I want you to put your feet flat against the soil and climb up as far as you can, pulling yourself up with your arms, can you do that for me?"

"I'll try", Catherine choked out, scrambling up the soil until her feet were half a meter higher than before, her whole body strung with tension. "Sara I can't.."

"Yes you can Cath, you are the strongest woman I now. Now, half a meter to the left of your feet, there is a small protrusion, try to reach it with your left foot. Yes, that's good, no a little higher, a little to the left, you're nearly there Cath, yes, just a little bit higher, can you feel it?"

Catherine's foot found the tiny protuberance. She tried putting some weight on it, and when she didn't slip she put as much weight as possible on the foot, hoisting herself up which gave her a little freedom to slightly relax her arms.

"Ok Cath, do you think you can let go with your left hand when I tell you to and grab my arm?", Sara asked, digging her left hand and feet into the soil, trying to get a good grip, while leaning as far over the edge with her right arm and upper right body as she dared.

"I'll try", Catherine answered.

"Ok, on the count of three", Sara ordered, while leaning down as close to Catherine as possible and sending a silent prayer to any god or goddess that might be listening.

"One... Two... Three..."

On three, Catherine desperately grabbed for Sara's arm, putting as much weight as possible on her foot. When she got a hold onto it, Sara pulled her up as far as she could.

"Let go of your right arm", she shouted, hoisting Catherine further up, before trying to grab the blonde underneath the right shoulder with her left arm. Now the two women were linked by both arms, Catherine pressed flat against the cliff, balancing on one foot.

"Cath, I'll try to pull you up as far as possible. Try to push yourself off with your left foot. You were a dancer, you know how to do the splits, so try to get your right leg up and over the edge. Once you have it there. try to pull yourself up with it, grab onto anything, soil, my arms, my belt, ok?"

"Yes", Catherine said, taking a deep breath and tensing all of her muscles. "Ready?"

"Ready", Sara called, pulling the blonde up with all of her strength. Catherine jumped off the protrusion, for a second only held by Sara's arms, while trying to swing her right leg as far up as possible. With a nearly inhuman strength she finally hoisted it over the edge. From there on, all went smoothly, Sara hooking both arms under Catherine's and Catherine grabbing onto Sara's shirt and belt the managed to pull the blonde over the edge.

After what seemed like ages but had not been more than mere seconds, both women were finally lying on their stomachs, facing each other , the void to Sara's right and Catherine's left, both of them shaking and breathing hard.

"Let's get off this path", Sara finally said, moving up to a sitting position before turning around and climbing the path back up on all fours. Catherine followed suit, also crawling.

When they reached the plateau they had started their descent from, Sara turned around to face the blonde.

"What the fuck were you thinking? Are you completely insane? Do you have a death wish? I'm not even gonna tell you '_I told you so_' because if '_I told you so_' is level one, what you'd deserve is level 1000. Did you even think about your daughter, about your family, and about all the people who care about you, before risking your life over something so completely stupid? Do you honestly want to put your life in danger just to prove that once again, Catherine the Great was right?", Sara shouted on top of her lungs, finally giving vent to the adrenaline rushing through her veins, the cold fear that had held her heart in its grasp, and the anger over Catherine's thick headedness, now that both of them were safe again.

"You could have died, Catherine. You could have died in front of me and there would have been nothing I could have done to save you. We nearly lost you. Lindsey, and your sister, and your mom, the team, we nearly lost you. You nearly left all of us. Do you think I could have survived that? Watching you die in front of me? I could have jumped off that cliff immediately after you, because there is not a chance in hell I would have survived watching you die. You nearly killed me. You nearly killed both of us, killing yourself with your arrogance and me by ripping my heart out and taking it with you down that precipice...", eventually Sara's voice broke, sobs starting to wreck her body.

Catherine was having an out-of-body experience. There were so many feelings rushing through her body that her mind just shut down. Shock, terror, fear of death, adrenaline, shame because she had nearly left her daughter an orphan, fear of the anger Sara was directing towards her, fear because she had never seen the brunette so livid, arousal because she had never seen her so livid, confusion because of what Sara was telling her, delight because in between the younger woman had mentioned her heart, and over all the indescribable relief and joy of having survived with only few scratches.

She was brought back into her body by the feeling of Sara nearly crushing her in a hug, her head buried in Sara's shoulder, smelling the cold sweat of fear and something uniquely Sara, feeling the brunette's tears dropping onto her head.

"I nearly lost you. I nearly lost you... ", she heard Sara mumble over and over again.

"I'm still here, I'll never leave you", she replied.

For a long time they were just standing there, repeating their mantras over and over again, crying, and holding each other tight to remind themselves that they were both alive. Finally Catherine looked up. Her heart stopped when chocolate brown eyes which were red from crying locked with hers.

"I nearly lost you", the owner of said eyes very softly repeated one last time, her voice sore from shouting and crying.

"I'm still here", Catherine told her just as softly.

And with that, Sara leant down to kiss her.

* * *

Ohhhh... I told you, I was getting there. Unfortunately I don't have the time to continue this right now, the fact that I could give you a new chapter today is only due to my insomnia. But I promise to try and update as soon as possible. And forgive me if the rescue is not entirely realistic, I actually tried to simulate it by climbing and hanging over the edge of my bed in order to find something remotely realistic and damn, it is hard. Oh by the way, I gave you guys a kiss, so I do deserve some reviews, no?


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

Apologies my dear readers, going back to university and life in general killed (or at least heavily inured) my muse. I was suffering from a huge writer's block, and finally after two months of holidays I feel inspired again (let's say my muse is out of ICU, but still weak). For this, I have to thank all of you who took the time to review (even after such a long time of absence), without you I wouldn't have made it this far. Oh and good news, the next chapter is already halfway written and the one after that (which I also like to call the smutty chapter) is already finished, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long for an update this time.

* * *

Their first kiss was neither exceptionally elegant nor romantic, teeth clashing, noses colliding, and tongues fighting, but Catherine was pretty sure she had fallen off that cliff and died. Because there was no way that such a heavenly pleasure could be found on earth. It felt like they were connected by raw passion, surging through their bodies and ingniting each and every nerve ending. Sara was crushing her in a fierce hug, pressing their bodies together as if she wanted them to melt into one, kissing, licking, and softly biting Catherine's lips. The blonde had always suspected that there was a more passionate side to the younger woman, but feeling this fierce energy directed towards her made her brain shut down and her animalistic instincts take over.

Sara's knees very nearly buckled when she felt Catherine nibbling on her lower lip. She let out a soft moan, all but choking when Catherine took the opportunity to reinsert her tongue into the brunette's mouth. Sucking on the proffered muscle she groaned at the sweet taste. Faint traces of coffee and cookies with something uniquely Catherine were a highly addictive flavour and Sara fought the nimble tongue back into the smaller woman's mouth to taste the nectar from its source.

When their mouths finally broke apart they were panting heavily, trying to fill up on much needed oxygen. Sara was still cradling the blonde in her arms, not willing to let go.

"You taste like rain", the older woman whispered, looking up into impossible dark eyes.

Sara's cheeks flushed, her eyes finding their cerulean counterparts.

"Is that a good thing?", she asked, looking slightly flustered.

"Oh yes, very good", Catherine confirmed, "fresh and sweet, like a warm summer rain."

By now Sara was furiously blushing.

"Thanks", she mumbled, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"God, you are so adorable when you're flustered", the blonde laughed, tugging on the brunette's neck. Sara obediently lowered her head meeting Catherine's lips for a brief but sweet kiss.

"And you are one heck of a kisser", the younger woman answered, gaining a bit of her confidence back.

"Ditto", her colleague replied and gave her a brilliant smile. Leaning in again, they shared another kiss that soon got more and more heated.

"I've wanted to do that for ages", Sara gasped when they separated.

Catherine was intrigued by the other woman's admission.

"Really?", she inquired. "How long?"

Realizing her revelation, Sara felt a sudden rush of panic, before shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Couple of years", she said.

When Catherine stared at her for over a minute, mouth agape in shock, a myriad of emotions reflecting in her eyes, not able to form a coherent answer, Sara started to get a little defensive.

"Have you never even thought about me?", she asked meekly.

The wounded tone tore Catherine out of her stupor. "No, of course I have. I mean, I'm pretty sure I've liked you for quite some time now, but I only realized recently that I have feelings for you."

"You have feelings for me?", Sara beamed, a smile lighting her face.

Now it was Catherine's turn to panic, but the look of sheer delight on her counterpart's face made her swallow her denial.

Her nose nuzzled the brunette's shoulder. "Yeah, I do. I mean, I'm not sure what feelings exactly, but I like you. I really do. A lot..." She trailed off, basking in the other woman's scent.

"That's good." Sara answered, tightening the embrace and resting her chin on blond hair. "Because I really like you too. And I'd very much like to explore this further."

She could feel the head on her shoulder nodding.

They stood like that for a long time, enjoying the closeness and breathing in each other's warmth and scent.

When the first raindrops started hitting them they broke apart, looking towards the sky.

"We'd better get going", Sara said with a sigh, "we have a long way back."

"Yeah", Catherine agreed, grabbing the younger woman's hand and pulling her towards the path that they had came from. "And whose fault is that, scout?"

"Oh, you minx", Sara shouted, following the blonde and tackling her from behind.

"You were the one complaining about cold feet", she said and wrapped her arms around the blonde while nudging her forward.

"And you wanted to beat the boys", quipped Catherine, enjoying the light bantering after the rather emotional last couple of hours.

"Sure, I needed to impress you."

"Yeah, that worked out just fine, _'Miss getting us lost'_."

"Hey, at least I didn't nearly get us killed."

"Just wanted to give you a chance to be my knight in shining armour."

"Cath?"

"Yes, darling?"

"Next time you want me to impress you, pick an activity without mortal danger, like, I don't know, asking me for the square root of 74529."

"Spoilsport."

"Catherine, I'm serious. If you ever pull such a stunt again, I will first save your cute butt and then personally kick it afterwards."

"You think my butt is cute?"

"That is so not the point..."

"Right, the point is that you have a definitely kinky side, Sidle."

"273."

"What?"

"The square root of 74529 is 273."

"Kinky, Sidle, kinky..."

* * *

Now, I do realize that I was a very bad girl for not updating, and I do feel very bad about it, but pleeeease, be a greater person than I was and review. It really keeps me going and will make me update faster. Besides, not having written something for so long makes me sorta nervous and I am not sure whether I have lost my touch or not, so any feedback would be most welcome.

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

First off, thank, you thank you, thank you, for still reading and reviewing the story, you guys definitely rock. I was so happy to see (well read) so many old and a couple of new faces, you guys blew me away. And since you were so good to me, I was highly motivated and voila, here are the fruits of my labour, a little treat for you in the form of a new chappie, which you'll hopefully enjoy.

* * *

Twenty minutes, one mile, endless teasing, and a really non-dangerous shortcut later they were back on track, hurrying back towards the hotel on the intended route. When they were only half a mile from their destination they nearly stumbled over team number eleven from San Diego, who were trying to repair Jill _'People who think scavenger hunts are cool have some childhood trauma' _ Beckett' s busted left sneaker.

While Sara helped wrapping the shoe in a plastic bag she mysteriously discovered in one of her pockets, Catherine explained their dishevelled appearances with the unfortunate shortcut, after all there was no need to let some total strangers in on their newly discovered romantic feelings. Together they walked the remaining distance to the hotel, where Gabby and a rather worried looking Luke and Andy were waiting for them.

"Jesus Sidle, where have you guys been?", Luke asked, hugging the brunette, while Andy examined Catherine's battered state.

"Long story, Wats", Sara sighed, before gracing him with a huge gap-toothed grin.

"Mhmm", he replied, giving Catherine a quick once over and ushering Sara towards the elevators, "let me guess, checkpoint nine, the question thingy, you asked her whether she wanted to sleep with you?"

Sara laughed while glancing at Catherine, who was immersed in recounting their story to Andy and not paying them any attention.

"No", she said, "but close enough."

* * *

Reaching their floor, the boys and girls separated to get ready for dinner.

"Finally", Sara growled once they entered their room, pulling Catherine close and kissing her with all the vigour a new lover, that couldn't touch her partner for nearly half an hour, possesses.

"Mhmm", Catherine giggled, softly pushing the younger woman away after thoroughly enjoying the attention lavished upon her. "We should get changed. And I really need a shower."

"Don't wanna", Sara pouted, kicking off her dirty boots.

Catherine smiled. "Sara, hon, I am a mother, don't even try that look on me. Besides, if we don't show up for dinner, YOUR friends are gonna tease us mercilessly."

"Yeah I know", Sara grumbled, her soaked jacket already stripped off. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"True", Catherine admitted, while savouring the butterfly kisses the brunette bestowed upon her neck. "But Sara, I am serious, I need that shower. And you should probably take one as well, you are soaked from the rain."

"Soaked yes, but I wouldn't blame the rain", Sara mumbled.

"What was that?", the blonde asked, not understanding the murmur. "Never mind, I don't want you to get sick. So you wanna go first?"

"We could always go together. You know, save water. I am an environmentalist", the younger woman grinned.

"Naughty, Sidle", Catherine retorted. "And as much as I would like to do that, I don't want our first time to be in a cramped shower. Besides, you don't honestly think I will be finished with you in time for dinner?" She shot the speechless brunette an alluring grin.

"Uhm, right", the flustered woman stuttered. "Now I definitely need a shower. A very cold shower, thanks Cath."

"Welcome, hon", the blonde replied, while plopping down in an armchair. "Go ahead, get yourself cleaned and cooled down."

Sara grabbed her towel and shower bag, before she disappeared into the bathroom. Barely ten minutes later she returned, wrapped in a towel.

While Catherine took her shower, Sara got dressed in black pants and a dress shirt, leaving the upper three buttons open to show a tasteful amount of cleavage. Her towel dried hair was bound in a loose ponytail and she was applying some subtle make-up when the bathroom door opened and a blonde goddess entered the room. Cath's hair was curly, her make-up flawless, and Sara was convinced the _'little black number' _had been invented with Catherine in mind, because surely a black cocktail dress had never looked this good on anyone else before.

"Wow", Sara managed to say, proud of not drooling. "You look amazing."

"So do you", Catherine replied, avidly watching the younger woman, who was tugging one shirttail into her pants so that her belt buckle became visible.

With a short peck on the lips, careful not to smudge any lipstick, they were ready to leave.

* * *

Dinner was a pleasant affair, the boys' teasing reduced due to the copious amounts of food they consumed, all agreeing that fresh air definitely improved the appetite.

While enjoying their fruity desserts, Gabby honoured the winners of the competition. Luke and Andy were sorely disappointed to learn that they had only made third place, apparently Andy's questions had delayed them during task number nine. Nonetheless, they were still quite content to have beaten the girls, who were surprised to discover that they hadn't even come in last, a team with a sprained ankle, one completely navigationally disabled team, and the team from Boulder, who had sneaked off to a coffee shop, and hence earned Gabby's ire and a public scolding had placed even worse.

After dinner, they went to the hotel bar, where Sara bought the guys beer to acknowledge their victory in the boys-vs-girls competition. Once she had put down the bottles in front of her friends and a strawberry daiquiri in front of her soon-to-be lover, she took a deep gulp out of her own bottle.

"You know", she said while softly playing with the blonde's hand that was resting on their table. "you guys might have beaten us today, but I sure as hell got the better price." She smiled impishly at her blonde partner, who looked touched by the quiet admission.

Andy laughed, slapping the young woman on the shoulder, "you sure did, Sherlock, you sure did."

They finished their drinks, chatting and laughing like teenagers. Sara was just trying to swallow the last of her beer, when she nearly choked on the liquid. Catherine's hand, which had been lightly caressing the brunette's knee was now inching closer towards the apex of Sara's thighs.

"You alright, Sara?", Luke asked, eyeing his ex-colleague suspiciously.

"Peachy", she replied, casting the owner of the hand that was currently stroking her lap a warning glance.

The boys shrugged and turned towards the bar, trying to catch the bartender's attention in order to buy a new round.

Catherine leaned in towards Sara, whispering into her ear. "Unless you want me to continue this exploration here, and believe me, I would, you better tell your friends that you are not thirsty anymore and take me to our room, scout."

Sara gulped, slammed the bottle on the table, and nearly jumped out of her chair, while grabbing the blonde's hand and pulling her with her.

"Sorry guys, we are suddenly not so thirsty anymore", she apologised, her face a stunning red.

"Uhum", Luke grinned, shooting them a knowing grin. "Since we are such nice guys we will excuse you. You ladies go enjoy yourselves. But I want details tomorrow."

Andy nodded his approval, sharing a conspiratorial wink with Catherine.

Sara didn't even bother with a reply to their smart assed comments, simply waving them off, while nearly running out of the bar, a giggling Catherine in tow.

* * *

Ahh, we are getting there. You know what's best about the next chapter? No, not the fact that it is the reason why this story will finally earn its M-rating, even tough that's pretty swell as well, no, the fact that it is already finished and waiting on my hard disk. But there is this huge feat of uploading it. And you know what could help me with that and encourage me to tackle this task? Yes, you guessed correctly: reviews! Lots and lots of reviews.

* * *


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

There we are, finally, the chapter that makes the story earn its M-rating. It's the first time I've ever written a sex scene, so please, be kind, especially since I noticed that reading smut is definitely much easier than writing it.

PS: Reviewers are to be worshipped, more than 100 reviews in total, yoohoo!

* * *

As soon as they arrived inside their room, Catherine hit the light switch and pressed Sara against the door. The kiss they shared was neither soft nor gentle, but full of passion and fire. After nibbling on Sara's lower lip, Catherine's mouth moved southwards, kissing Sara's chin and trailing her tongue along Sara's throat, before feasting on her younger counterpart's pulse point, while the brunette started moving her hands towards Catherine's chest. When they reached their target, the blonde moaned and let her own hands grab Sara's belt, opening it smoothly.

"Cath, wait a sec...", the younger woman suddenly stopped her attack on her colleagues breasts and pushed the older woman slightly backwards to be able to look into the blonde's eyes. "Are you sure we are ready for this? I mean, do you want to? We haven't really been on a date yet. It's... I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love to, I just don't want to rush things and screw everything up."

Catherine stopped the brunette's rambling quite effectively by giving her a short kiss on the lips.

"Sara, you're babbling. It's cute on you, but honestly, there is no reason. Yes, we've just discovered our feelings for each other, but we've known each other for 5 years now. That's basically the same level as a third date. If you feel not ready for this yet, that's totally fine. We can just snuggle up in front of the TV and you can give me a foot rub. But if you want this only half as bad as I want you right now, than you better get out of these pants before I have to rip them off of you."

With a nearly feral grin, Sara opened her slacks and let them drop to the floor. While stepping out of them she grabbed Catherine by the waist and pulled her surprised colleague flush against her in one smooth motion, crushing their lips together. When Catherine moaned in appreciation Sara took it as an opportunity to slip her tongue into the older woman's mouth and explore the warm cavern once again. Letting their tongues duel, they slowly tumbled towards Sara's bed, hands running through hair and clothes, trying to open buttons and zippers. Catherine managed to unbutton Sara's shirt long before Sara's hands finally found the zipper on the back of Catherine's dress. But opening the zipper was even more tricky as Sara soon discovered, because Catherine's mouth proved to be very distracting, trailing featherlike kisses all over Sara's face and neck. Even more distracting were the hands, that started circling Sara's nipples through her bra. Eventually Sara managed to unzip Catherine's dress, that dropped off the blonde's gorgeous body and pooled around her ankles, soon followed by her bra.

Sara took a step back and looked at the apparition in front of her, mouth agape.

"You are incredible", was all she could manage to say while trailing her eyes along the perfect curves. Her breath hitched when her gaze reached the blonde's legs. "Stockings? Jesus Christ, if you had told me before I would never have managed to sit through dinner..."

Catherine gave her a lascivious grin, her self-consciousness about what the younger woman would think of her body totally gone. "You are most definitely not too shabby yourself", she said, while letting her eyes rest on the brunette's seemingly endless legs. "And if you love the stockings so much, I might even wear them to work one day", she added, winking at the now speechless brunette.

Sara only managed a growl, before deciding that talking was sometimes clearly overrated. She tackled Catherine, making them both crash on the bed.

"Someone seems a little impatient", Catherine giggled, before her laughter was smothered by Sara's lips. When they were both breathless, Sara slid down Catherine's body, trailing kisses all along the blonde's torso. Reaching Catherine's middle part, she pulled back slightly hooking her fingers into Catherine's thong and started to pull it down.

"Hmm, lace", she muttered, "so, no _'Hello Kitty'_ today".

"What did you just say", Catherine interrupted.

Sara threw her a short look, before casting her eyes downwards, her cheeks flaming red. "Uhm, nothing", she said lamely.

"Riiiight", the blonde drawled. "Care to tell me how you know the insides of my underwear drawer?"

By now, Sara's face was nearly purple. She sat back on her heels, staring at a point slightly to the left of Catherine's face to avoid eye contact.

"Well, hum, you know, we do have the same suitcases, right?", she began.

"Yes, go on", Catherine answered, biting the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from laughing out loud at the brunette's predicament.

"Yeah, so anyway, when we arrived here, you apparently took my suitcase with you when you went to our room. I didn't notice until I opened the suitcase that you left in the lobby. YOUR suitcase in fact, how I immediately found out when your underwear fell towards me. I swear, I didn't go through your stuff, I just put everything back and to prevent any embarrassing moments I decided to swap the suitcases and pretend nothing happened. Really, you have to believe me."

Finally Catherine could no longer manage to keep her face straight and burst out laughing. "Oh I do believe you Sara. But what I couldn't believe were my eyes when I saw that men's mag falling out of YOUR suitcase. Any comments on that one?"

Sara just sat there, staring at her nearly hysterical colleague, mouth agape, cheeks burning, and mind empty.

"It's really not what you think", she finally mumbled, when Catherine's laughter had died down a little and Sara's speech facilities seemed to work again. "I know that this is going to sound strange, but Greg found out that I, uhm, like you. So he thought that staying in a room with you for four days would be torture for me and decided that I needed something to help me, how did he call it, oh yeah, _'take the edge off'_. That's why he got me the magazine, which he gave me at the airport. I didn't know where to put it, so I just threw it into my suitcase. Honestly, I would never buy such a thing..." she trailed off, before throwing Catherine a suspicious look. "Hey, if you know about that, that means, you knew that you mixed up the bags and didn't tell me!"

Catherine just winked at her. "I wanted to spare you the embarrassment hon... So that's why you looked so mad when you came into the airport?"

Sara nodded. "Yeah, I...", her explanation was cut short when Catherine changed their positions with a sudden movement. Utterly surprised Sara found herself lying on her back, Catherine sitting astride her hips and throwing her a deeply amused glance.

"So Sara", the blonde started, moving her right hand to Sara's breasts, unclasping the front clasp of the brunette's bra. "Did you take the edge off?"

"No!", the brunette squealed as she felt her nipple being twisted. "Of course not, when should I?"

Catherine's grin was feral. She moved one finger slowly down from Sara's breasts, circling the belly button and leaving goose pimples all along the way. "So you would say, you're still a bit on edge, right?", she added while tracing featherlike patterns over the boy-shorts the younger woman was wearing.

"Yessss...", Sara moaned, while bucking her hips towards the wandering hand.

"And this is not really helping, is it?", Catherine inquired, a huge grin on her face and her teasing hand firmly cupping Sara through her underwear.

Sara only shook her head, her eyes firmly shut.

Still cupping the brunette, Catherine leaned over the lanky body until her mouth reached Sara's ear. "Don't worry hon, I'll take care of it." With that the blonde slipped two fingers inside her lover's shorts. When the finger stopped at Sara's entrance, the latter opened her eyes. "Please, Cath", she whimpered. With one swift movement Catherine had lowered herself in between the younger woman's legs, pulled down the shorts with her left hand and entered Sara with her right.

"Oh fuck", Sara groaned, while moving her hips to meet Catherine's hand.

"Believe me, Sar, I will", Catherine grinned, before lowering her mouth towards her counterpart's centre. When her tongue first made contact with the flesh in front of her, both women groaned. Setting a steady rhythm with her fingers, Catherine's tongue became an artist, drawing a variety of patterns over Sara's most sensitive parts. One last thrust of Catherine's fingers, perfectly matched by Sara's hips and the younger woman tumbled over the edge. "Caaaaath!"

When the blonde moved upwards to face the woman she had just sent to orbit, she nearly giggled again, looking at the dopey grin Sara was sporting.

"That was absolutely amazing", Sara finally managed to breathe out, leaning up to meet Catherine's mouth for a hungry kiss. Tasting herself on the blonde's lips made her groan, which resulted in Catherine pulling back slightly.

"Less edgy?", the senior investigator inquired, looking deep into the chocolate brown eyes that stared at her.

Swiftly Sara flipped them over so that Catherine was now lying on her back. "Yeah, a bit less", she grinned. "What about you, watching me in running gear taking its toll yet?" Laughing at Catherine's slightly embarrassed frown she added: "Yeah, I noticed you were watching when I came back from my run." Her kiss swallowed all of Catherine's protests, while her right hand blindly found its way into Catherine's panties. With a sudden thrust she pushed two fingers inside her lover while rearranging herself such that one of her legs was in between Catherine's, and she was nearly sitting on one of the blonde's legs, still encased in silky stockings.

"Shit Sara, more please", Catherine whimpered.

Sara obediently added a third finger and started massaging Catherine's clit with her thumb. Catherine hissed and raised her knee, hitting Sara in just the right spot. They found a fast rhythm, Sara sliding along Catherine's leg while pushing inside her lover, curling her fingers just slightly to find the spot that would turn _'good'_ into _'fantastic'_. They moved like one, and when Sara bit down lightly on Catherine's nipple, her ministrations made Catherine finally cry out her name. Feeling Catherine's knee against her centre, the blonde's nails scratching her back, and watching the beautiful woman arch her back and cry out in orgasm were enough to make Sara climax again.

Completely spent, she fell down next to her partner.

"Wow", Catherine finally managed.

"Yeah", Sara answered, turning around slightly and starting to draw patterns on the blonde's belly. "Sleep?", she asked, feeling utterly exhausted.

After stripping off the last remnants of their clothes and pulling Sara's heavenly comforter over them, Catherine snuggled up to Sara, tucking her head beneath the taller woman's chin and throwing her left leg and arm possessively over the body draped beneath her. "Yeah, sleep", she said. "Night Sar."

"Night Cath", Sara smiled, stroking the strawberry blonde hair, before she closed her eyes.

* * *

Aww, wasn't that cute? And funny? And maybe even a little bit hot? What do you think? Encourage the scared writer.

* * *


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

You know guys, last night I was actually already in bed, when my muse decided that sleep is clearly overrated and that it would be a great idea to continue this story right that moment. So, I took a pen and paper and did not only write this chapter, but the next one as well (that one still needs to be typed though, which - considering the fact that I am leaving for a really short trip - might take one or two days). After that, I'm afraid there will probably only one more chapter and a possible "missing scene smut fest sort of thingy" that I might write as a stand-alone piece given enough reviewy encouragement and time. Speaking of reviews, a big thanks to all of you who keep/ start reviewing, it really makes me feel special and encourages me to keep writing, I hope you keep reading. But now, without further ado, the morning after...

* * *

When Sara awoke the next morning, she was quite literally freezing her ass off. Sometime during the night, Catherine must have managed to completely wrap herself in Sara's obscenely expensive linen and was now only warming her bedmate's front that was pressed snugly against her back. The (rather naked) rest of Sara, however, was subjected to the crisp morning air, leaving the brunette shivering, which did not necessarily improve her early morning mental capacity.

Sara groaned. She could think of about four possible ways to warm up. She could either get up and go for a morning run, or she could try to extricate _'her' _ blanket from Catherine's grasp, possibly waking the blonde. Saving herself the trouble of recovering her comforter, she could also get up and get Catherine's.

"_It's not bloody likely that I'm going to touch that germ-infested hotel crap_."

Or she could simply rouse her slightly snoring lover and get her to help with the warming up part. The thought of their earlier sweaty activities made her grin. Oh yeah, that would definitely warm and wake her up!

She was still remembering said activities when the realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

"_Holy fuck! I had sex with Catherine Willows_!"

While a small part of her brain was gleefully musing that _'holy fuck'_ was definitely an appropriate description of their glorious lovemaking, the larger part was occupied with freaking out. The events of the day before rushed through her brain: the competition, the questions, their emotional talk, finding out that Catherine was bisexual, nearly watching the blonde die, saving her, shouting at her, and finally kissing, fantastic kissing that led up to even greater sex later that evening after she had stripped the blonde off her black dress and her stockings, oh God, the stockings.

Sara was nearing full fledged panic mode when she remembered the conversation that had followed their first kiss. Both of them had admitted to having feelings for the other and that they were willing to take it further. Sara allowed herself to relax a little. Both of them had been sober enough to know what they were doing and if she wasn't completely mistaken, they had both very much enjoyed whatever had transpired between them.

So instead of continuing to worry about the dreaded morning after awkwardness, she decided to deal with more urgent matters at hand, namely her tiny little _'my butt feels arctic because my new lover hogs all the covers' _problem. As considerate as possible she tried to give the comforter a little tug and slip underneath it. Apart from a low grumble from a still sleeping blonde this did achieve nothing, so Sara decided to be a little more forward in her approach. Still tugging at the blanket she began nuzzling the elegant neck in front of her. This time she was rewarded with a groan and the slight shift of the corresponding body. Sara's mouth continued its journey on Catherine's neck, kissing a trail to the blonde's ear before nibbling on the earlobe. This did the trick. Catherine rolled onto her back, sleepy blue eyes opening a little.

"Hmm, what a way to wake up", she hummed happily, her voice still gravelly from sleep.

"Yeah, the view's definitely spectacular", Sara replied, eyeing her amorously.

"Charmer", Catherine teased, finally opening her baby blues completely, while leisurely stretching her arms. "Can I get a good-morning kiss?"

Sara leaned in a little closer. "Sure, on one condition."

"Whatever you want, darling", Catherine drawled.

"You let me have a piece of that blanket, I am freezing."

"Oh, poor baby", the older woman cooed, opening the comforter to invite Sara closer.

The brunette swiftly slipped underneath the cover and lay down on top of the smaller woman, gently kissing her. After a loving kiss she rolled off the blonde and stretched out next to her, slipping her cold feet underneath Cath's legs.

"Jeez, Sara, your feet are icicles", Catherine squeaked.

"Mhm", the younger woman confirmed in a pitiful tone.

Catherine snuggled closer. "Want me to make it up to you?"

"I don't think we have enough time for that", Sara sighed, looking at her watch, "breakfast is in less than an hour and I think after last night's sexcapades we both need a shower."

The blonde gave her a wicked smile. "Well Miss Ecologist, we could always save some water."

"Race ya to the bathroom!"

* * *

That's it for today, instead of a good-night story I'd settle for some feedback :-).

* * *


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, or any of the characters.

* * *

Right, you guys remember that missing scene I might write a one-shot about? Please don't kill me when you find out which scene I was referring to. On a brighter note, thank you so much for your reviews (I know I keep repeating myself, but I really adore you guys for your feedback). This is probably the penultimate chapter and I'm still not sure whether I am glad or sad about the fact. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

After a very, uhm, _'hot'_ shower the ladies took the elevator down to the lobby and entered the restaurant, their bodies close enough to _'accidentally' _bump into each other. Andy was giving them a warm grin and a wave, while Luke seemed to be engrossed in the Saturday morning paper.

The girls helped themselves to the breakfast buffet and joined their friends at the table. Luke closed his newspaper and glanced at their full plates.

"My my, someone seems to need a little strength. Must have been an exhausting night..."

Sara was flushing furiously, while Catherine was merely grinning mischievously.

"Oh, believe me Luke, Sidle definitely is a better workout than any competition Gabby could ever come up with. And sure as hell a much more pleasurable one."

The object of her remark was still pondering whether choking on her orange juice or hiding underneath the table would be a more appropriate response, but Luke just laughed and slapped her on the shoulder while Andy let out a loud whoop.

"Way to go Sidle, I always knew you had it in ya!"

"If by _'it' _you refer to Catherine's fingers then I can't deny you're right", Sara replied deadpan.

She smiled smugly, while taking a sip of her coffee, enjoying the shocked silence of her friends.

"What? You guys thought you were the only ones who could joke about sex?", she inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Catherine was the first to recover.

"Nah, told ya you're kinky."

* * *

The rest of breakfast was a mutual competition of who could make the others blush and choke the most. After several mouthfuls of juice had been spit over the table, and they had drawn the attention and disdain of the other tables, the four decided to switch to safer topics and talked about the last workshops they wanted to attend before the final discussion round would take place later that day.

Having made their decision, Catherine and Luke headed off towards a workshop about different types of Luminol, while Sara and Andy went to a presentation of a new microscope.

* * *

The workshop hadn't been as boring as expected and so Luke and Catherine were still discussing advantages and disadvantages of the standard chemical they used for detecting blood, when they walked down the stairs to the reception area.

Catherine's reply, however, got caught in her throat before it could leave her mouth. The scene in front of her let her blood run cold. There was Sara, the woman she had just woken up with, standing exceptionally close to Gabby, her hand placed on the lower back of the annoying woman.

"Thanks Gabby, you are the best", she said, kissing the pleased looking woman on the cheek.

"Oh honey, my pleasure, whatever you want", Gabby cooed.

Squeezing Gabby's arm lightly, Sara turned around, her smile faltering when she saw the hurt look in Catherine's eyes. Hurt soon turned into anger, the blonde's incomprehension over what she had just witnessed and the lack of confidence, enforced by Eddie's countless betrayals, taking over the rational, self-assured part of her brain, her insecurities winning.

With three steps Catherine was at Sara's side, pulling the brunette to the side of the room.

"What the hell are you doing?", she whispered furiously.

Sara was genuinely confused.

"Cath, nothing's going on, what's your problem?"

"My problem? You ask me what my problem is? What the hell is your problem? I thought we had something special. But the first time I turn around you get all cozy with that bitch who's been after you from the start? _"You are the best Gabby"_? What the fuck? Not even five hours ago I let you fuck me in the shower and now you're pawing that tramp?"

At that, Luke's eyebrows hit his hairline, while Sara was shell-shocked and completely flabbergasted, trying to find a way to resolve the situation that was rapidly spinning out of control.

"Cath, honey, I swear, it's not what you think", she pleaded.

Catherine sneered.

"Yeah, sure, I've never heard that one before."

Please, let me explain."

* * *

Ohhh, angst and cliffy, I know, I know, I am evil, a meanie, and lots of other things. I am also aware of the fact that Catherine might overreact a little, but hey, pissed off, passionate women are sexy, what can I say. Besides, this fight does have a purpose and what would a finale be without a little drama? Let me know what you think, I need all the encouragement I can get to wrap this baby up (one could say I am scared shitless).

* * *


End file.
